Ivan KirundaJun 13th, 2005 - 13:38:17

Yet again, former Ugandan President Idi Amin is the focus of a motion picture. The man the western media christened the Black Hitler will have his life re-enacted in a film adaptation of Giles Foden's 1998 novel, The Last King of Scotland.

The book is the story of Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish doctor who becomes Amin's personal physician and gets sucked into the whirlwind of the day.

Unlike Rise and Fall of Idi Amin and Raid on Entebbe that were shot in foreign lands, The Last King of Scotland will be partly shot in Uganda and the cast includes three Ugandans.

Mr Abbey Mukiibi, an actor with the Afri-Talents theatrical group but better known as the other half of the wacky Kalisoliso sports show on CBS FM, will star as Amin's right-hand man. He brings to this film's set acting experience from the 2005 HBO genocide movie Sometimes in April.

Unlike the actors who have played Amin before, Whitaker told journalists at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel last week that he was not going to mimic Amin 'seeing that I do not even look remotely close to the man.

'My most challenging bit will be understanding the complexity of the man and his history. I will try to get into the soul of the man who I think was a very mercurial character.

'I was waiting for the opportunity to come to Africa and this film made it possible. It is my first time here and I am deeply humbled. My family called me and asked me about Uganda and I told them it was lush, green, beautiful and alive.'

Whitaker, who said he has read up on Amin, also revealed he had a soft spot for the former Ugandan dictator – a man he believes fought imperialists and wanted to give his country back to his people.

Ms Kerry Washington is the African-American actress who will play one of Amin's wives. 'This is my first time in Africa and I am really honoured and pleased to be learning this part of my people's history,' said the actress who starred opposite Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles' wife Della Bea in Ray.

'It will be valuable to be surrounded by Ugandan actors especially the women. I hope to share in their experiences as Amin's other wives,' says the petite Washington who also starred as Chenille in Save the Last Dance opposite Julia Stiles.

'Experts' had recommended the movie be shot in South Africa because the buzz in Hollywood was that it was impossible to make a film in Uganda. But Ugandan playwright Charles Mulekwa, now a doctoral candidate at Brown University in the United States, gets the credit for being pivotal in bringing the film home.

The prime locations for the shoot include Kampala, Entebbe and the Mabira forest. Shooting in Uganda started Saturday 11th June at Mulago Hopsital in Kamapala, the capital of the country.

ikirunda@med.mak.ac.ug

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