Last King of Scotland to open London film fest

A MOVIE directed by Scot, Kevin Macdonald, it to open the London Film Festival, which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy, will be not just opening the festival – which begins on the 18th of next month – but enjoying its European premiere.

Artistic director, Sandra Hebron, has compiled a programme comprising 181 features and 131 shorts, which includes four world premieres, 32 European premieres and 123 UK premieres.

Based on a novel by Giles Foden, The Last King of Scotland concerns a Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) on an Ugandan medical mission who “becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world’s most barbaric figures: Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker)”.