The premiere was preceded by a general press conference at The Emin Pasha Hotel in Nakasero,    Kampala, where both the visiting and local cast and crew were booked for an eventful itinerary of
    media interviews.  Clad in a gray suit, protagonist Whitaker appeared for the conference looking    exhausted from a couple of one-on-one interviews earlier that morning.

   Journalists from local and international media houses and agencies had their turn with Whitaker, James    McAvoy, and the local cast who included Abbey Mukiibi,  who starred as Masanga; Stephen
    Rwangyezi, who starred as Health Minister;  Jonah Wasswa; Sam Okello-kelo; and Joanita Bewulira    Wandera, who    starred as Malyamu Amin,  the older wife of the dictator.

   Director Kevin Macdonald looked intelligently shy, while James McAvoy, in his Scottish kilt,
    wore that    innocent playful flare that he had in the movie.  It would have been possible for the
   Last King of Scotland    to be shot in South Africa since the country happens to be the hub of
    acting talent in Africa.  However,   according to Macdonald, it was wiser to shoot the movie
    amidst a people who had been affected by  Amin’s regime.
                         
   McAvoy's Kilt made a fashion statement      Whitaker poses with Ugandan Star, Abbey Mukiibi

   “Being where it all happened made a massive difference. I wanted that rich input of Uganda and its    people. It’s the reason we had to find local solutions to problems.  For instance we had to get local    people to do the costumes, [or] fix the cars…Uganda had that unique feel to it…almost everybody we    met seemed to have been affected by the Amin era. We wanted to catch that feel,” said Macdonald
   about his choice to shoot the movie in Uganda.

   Although Amin is now dead,  thoughts of his atrocities are still fresh in the minds of Ugandans.  
    Ms Ruth  Nakafeero, 46, was 10 years old when Amin took over power in 1971. She vividly
    remembers a time when her parents would walk for about a mile to listen to Amin’s decrees over
    Radio Uganda.

   “It was in Kateera, Mubende district. My parents would wake up early and walk for about a mile
    to listen to Amin on a radio set that belonged to some elderly man, who lived a distance from home.
    One morning, my parents came back home looking so withdrawn and heartbroken. That’s when
    I knew Amin had expelled the Indians,” Ms Nakafeero said.

   She said that much as her village-dwelling people did not have many encounters with Amin’s soldiers,
    his orders would make people in the village panic since failure to heed them meant death.
   “That film should be good. I only wish I could watch it. Our leaders should know that Amin’s
    blood-stained hands still haunt.  They must refrain from such acts,” Nakafeero said.

   Unlike Nakafeero, Mr. William Nyanja, 56, a laboratory technician, thinks Amin wasn’t a bad man
    after all.
   “I know he killed people but those killings were precipitated by Obote’s men who kept attempting
    to kill him.  So he killed on suspicion. But if you look at his initial days in office, he was a very good    man,” Nyanja says.   

   Josephat Sewali, a 29-year-old photographer was young during Amin’s regime. 
   “Elders would say that Amin was good economically because of his love to develop infrastructure
    and yet so terrible politically for killing his opponents,”  Says Sewali.

   Macdonald, who also shares the idea of Amin as having been a good man at some point and a bad
    one at several others, urged Ugandan movie directors to do a real-life film about Amin.  Whitaker    expressed interest in doing a movie about the war-torn northern Uganda if he gets a well-researched
    and crafted script.

   Asked what the future of Ugandan acting was, Stephen Rwangyezi, local star in the Amin movie
    and the Director of Ndere Troupe said that the coming of the Last King of Scotland transformed    Ugandan acting from a theatre-inclined type to acting for the screen. He called it the beginning of a    success story.
   “Uganda is open, Uganda is free and a lot of talent lies here. If only more of such projects can come,
    then whoever is bringing them should get ready to tap into plenty of virgin talent,” Rwangyezi said.

   The 30-minute press conference ended with a couple of journalists seeking the stars’ autographs and    photo poses with them.  Considering the tight schedule, though, not all who desired photos or
    autographs got them.  Time was in short supply, with guests, top company CEOs, and corporate    personalities and local cast waiting to join the vibrant cocktail party at Garden City’s rooftop.

   At the cocktail party, guests were treated to a variety of performances by Ndere Troupe, a
    traditional dance outfit owned by Rwangyezi. Oblivious of his post as the boss, Rwangyezi could
    not resist his genetic talent, so he occasionally joined and performed along.
   
     Rwangyezi leads Ndere Troupe in dance           Ndere Troupe displaying dance talent

   Mobile Telecommunication Company, Celtel Uganda, and 20th Century Fox, who were managing the    film’s publicity, saw to the requirements of protocol,  making it possible for H.E Yoweri Kaguta
    Museveni to attend as Chief Guest.   His impending arrival was proclaimed by loads of soldiers
    who hovered around the entire Garden City complex, hours before the premiere, to ensure security. 
    By the time Forest Whitaker and his entourage lined the red carpet after the cocktail, uniformed and    plain-clothed security personnel paced up and down the area, ready for any eventualities.

   Much as Whitaker and Macdonald chose to dress pretty much like most of the people at the event,
    James McAvoy’s Scottish  kilt  made a strong fashion statement.  It is not everyday that you meet
    a man in a skirt in Uganda, let alone in Kampala city.  McAvoy’s charming boyish looks left many
    ladies staring,  whereas others struggled to get a photo opportunity with him.

   The movie, as several viewers concurred, served as a good reminder to the president that deeds
    such as Amin’s were detestable, and had no place in a modern democracy like that enjoyed by
    Uganda. 

   The movie, which opens for public viewing on February 23, is the hottest item in Kampala. 
   According to Cineplex Cinema Marketing Executive, Natasha Epenu, it is definitely going to make
    it big at the box office. Ms Epenu anticipates an overwhelming turn up at the long-awaited public
   opening. “We are to have five shows everyday, using an auditorium that seats 180 people. We expect
    a full house per show in the first week since the movie is about Uganda in a British movie industry,"
    Ms Epenu said.   This means about 6,300 people will watch The Last King of Scotland in the first    week.  Unlike other movies,  it will show beyond the usual two weeks, with sales expected to keep    growing.  

   Talking to ajabuafrica.com,  the Cineplex Marketing and Operations Manager, Sidney Mukasa,
    refuted rumors that the cost of tickets was going to double. “Tickets will sell at the usual UGX
    11,000 for evening and weekend shows, and UGX 9,000 for afternoon and weekly shows,”
    Mukasa asserted. At an average of UGX 10,000 per head, the box office will be turning in UGX 9    million per day, which will propel gross box office collections to a whopping UGX 63 million in the
    first week.  Much as The Last King of Scotland is becoming a household favorite to many    Ugandans, not everybody is happy with it.  Last year, Taban Amin, the eldest son of Dictator
   Idi Amin threatened to sue the filmmakers for portraying his father as a blood-stained
    tyrant for 3 million pounds. When ajabuafrica.com  contacted Taban on the eve of the premiere,
    he said he would consider suing after watching the film on February 23.  Taban, now Deputy Director
    of the Internal Security Organization in charge of the West Nile Region, which is also  his father’s
    place of birth, was not invited to the premiere.

   When asked to comment about Taban’s threat, Director Macdonald could not give details.
   He remarked that since Amin was dead, cases such as defamation would not be relevant unless there     were other kinds of lawsuits involved.  He said that he would cross the bridge after getting there.
    To this,Whitaker said he made several attempts to meet Taban when he was on location in Uganda
    but  failed. He specifically wanted to address some issues regarding the content and purpose of the
    movie, among other things. Whitaker explained that their failure to meet was due to some     technicalities."Let's just wait and see what happens," he  said.
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