The Times BFI London Film Festival is delighted to announce that this year’s 50th edition will open on Wednesday 18th October with the European premiere of THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, directed by Oscar™ winning documentary director Kevin Macdonald.

Based on the award-winning novel by Giles Foden, the film stars Forest Whitaker as the tyrannical Ugandan President Idi Amin, alongside James McAvoy (THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA), Gillian Anderson (A COCK AND BULL STORY), Kerry Washington (FANTASTIC FOUR) and Simon McBurney (FRIENDS WITH MONEY). The novel is adapted by Peter Morgan (THE QUEEN) and Jeremy Brock (MRS BROWN).

Shot in Uganda and the UK, the film follows an incredible twist of fate when a Scottish doctor, Garrigan (James McAvoy) becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world’s most notorious dictators, Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker).

THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND is the first fiction feature from Kevin Macdonald, who won an Academy Award™ for ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER, and a BAFTA for TOUCHING THE VOID. It is executive produced by Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, and Tessa Ross and produced by Andrea Calderwood, Charles Steel and Lisa Bryer, co-produced by Christine Ruppert.
Fox Searchlight Pictures will release the film in the UK in January 2007.

Sandra Hebron, the Festival’s Artistic Director comments: “THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND is a perfect Opening Night film for us: a compellingly original British feature from an imaginative and talented young director. Kevin Macdonald and his cast and crew must be congratulated for balancing historical fact with psychological insight in such a lively, accessible and thought provoking way.”

Kevin Macdonald adds: “It would be an honour to be chosen any year to open The Times BFI London Film Festival - but it’s particularly great to be kicking off the 50th edition. I'm so pleased to be having the European premiere of THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND in my home city and at a Festival where I myself have discovered so many wonderful movies over the years.”