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IDI AMIN THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
The 50th London Film Festival has got under way with the premiere of The Last King of Scotland, about dictator Idi Amin's rule in Uganda.
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A Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world’s most barbaric figures: Idi Amin. Impressed by Dr. Garrigan’s brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physician and closest confidante. Though Garrigan is at first flattered and fascinated by his new position, he soon awakens to Amin’s savagery--and his own complicity in it. Horror and betrayal ensue as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and escape Uganda alive. |
Starring Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin, Gillian Anderson(of X files) and James McAvoy all attended the Leicester Square launch. Whitaker has been tipped for an Oscar for his role as the military leader, who took to wearing a kilt and believed he should become king of Scotland.
The film was based on a best-selling novel by Giles Foden and directed by Oscar-winning film-maker Kevin Macdonald. Whitaker, who also starred in the movie Panic Room, said: "It's fantastic to be here, making the film was an unbelievable experience."
McAvoy, who plays a Scottish doctor who becomes entangled in the dictator's life, said: "Filming in Uganda affected me personally and I'm going back in January to raise awareness for the work of the Red Cross. "It was different to any other experience in my life," he added. No one will dispute the fact that the reign of the King of Scotland, Idi Amin Dada was perhaps the darkest period in the history of Uganda, however African echo will want to draw the attention of film makers to also document the horrific events that took place in apathied South Africa, or that was white on black and so it was no story.
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