IT HAS been an extraordinary year for film, with women at the vanguard, both in front of and behind the camera, in works tackling sexism, ageism, female oppression and the sex trade.  

It has been a wealth of riches and so has proved very difficult to choose between them but here are my top films of the year.

Bread & Roses — Afghan film-maker Sahra Mani’s powerful and harrowing documentary shows in real time women in Afghanistan fighting back against the misogynistic Taliban regime’s attempts to erase them from society by removing all their civil rights. From being able to work and get an education, to walk outdoors on their own and be free to talk who they please to outside their homes.