LFF opening night film announced

A British film will make its European Premiere at the opening gala of the Times BFI London Film Festival.

Aug 10 2006

A Brit flick reigned supreme as the Times BFI London Film Festival's opening night film was announced yesterday amid intense speculation. Kevin Macdonald's 'The Last King of Scotland' is the LFF's final choice and will make its European premiere at the gala on October 18.

'It would be an honour to be chosen any year to open The London Film Festival - but it's particularly great to be kicking off the 50th edition' Macdonald admitted.  

Tyrannical Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is at the centre of the British film which follows a Scottish physician who becomes increasingly and irreversibly entangled in the President's political savagery. Forest Whitaker ('Ghost Dog', 'Panic Room') plays the tyrant in question, with James McAvoy ('The Chronicles of Narnia') as Amin's confidant and doctor, Garrigan.

'The Last King' is Macdonald's first foray into fiction features, following his successful documentaries 'One Day in September' and 'Touching the Void' which won an Academy Award and a BAFTA respectively. Such prestigious placement in the London Film Festival last year highlighted Fernando Meirelles' 'The Constant Gardener', which went on to win a glut of awards including an Oscar, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.

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