After attending the cambridge film festival hastily with little preparation to the even, this time going to keep tabs on this one:

The 50th Times BFI London film festival runs October 18 - November 2. (Yes - SRK's Birthday)
Full details of this year's programme will be announced on Thursday September 14. So Keep your eyes open!

The Last King of Scotland, a bizarre and brutal account of the reign of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, will open the 50th London film festival on October 18th. Last year's opening night film, The Constant Gardener, went on to win awards at the 2006 Bafta and Oscar ceremonies. The Last King of Scotland spins the tale of a young Scottish civil servant who becomes hopelessly embroiled with the regime when he becomes Amin's personal physician. Forest Whitaker stars as Amin, while the physician hero, Nicholas Garrigan is played by James McAvoy & also stars Gillian Anderson of X-Files fame. The film is directed by Kevin Macdonald, who won a Bafta for his 2003 documentary Touching the Void.

The Last King of Scotland is based on the prize-winning novel by the Guardian journalist Giles Foden. "I've been very lucky to have such a good team working on the book, from the producers involved in the development to two brilliant scriptwriters" Foden said today. "And I knew as soon as I met Kevin and we discussed the adaptation that he was the right man for the job." He added: "I saw the film myself a month or two ago and was very impressed. I think they managed to get to the heart of the novel and reproduce its sensibility. It was a real boon, too, that the film was made on location in Uganda, which gives it an added authenticity."

"The Last King of Scotland is a perfect opening night film for us," said festival director Sandra Hebron. "[It is] a compellingly original British feature from an imaginative and talented young director."

Source: Guardian Unlimited