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American actor Forest Whitaker poses for photographers after a press conference. (AP / Domenico Stinellis)

Idi Amin Dada was forced from power following a reign of terror that left hundreds of thousands dead in Uganda. The man whose name became synonymous with brutal African dictatorships headed the army when he took power in a generally popular coup in 1971. (AP Photo)

Ugandan despot brought to life by Forest Whitaker

Updated Sun. Sep. 10 2006 7:22 PM ET

Mary Nersessian, CTV.ca News

Academy-award winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald's feature film debut The Last King of Scotland is generating attention among industry insiders keeping a watchful eye on the early Oscar race.

Despite Macdonald's relative inexperience in the feature film medium, his masterful sense of direction and high-profile awards were more than enough to reassure his cast that they were in good hands.

Whitaker, whose dominant performance as the late Ugandan despot Idi Amin is generating early Oscar buzz, says it was clear from the beginning that Macdonald was after telling an authentic story.

"The fact that he wants to shoot in Uganda tells me that he is a documentarian, (that) he wants to shoot an authentic movie," Whitaker told eTalk of the director, who won a Bafta for his 2003 documentary Touching the Void, and an Oscar for his 1999 documentary One Day in September.

Macdonald's background as a documentary filmmaker left an indelible mark on the film, said Kerry Washington, who plays one of Amin's wives.

"Because he comes from a background in documentary, he looks for truth in filming, which is what you want as an actor," she said.

"You don't want people to let you get away with your tricks, so he really knows what truth looks like."

Based on the acclaimed 1998 novel by Giles Foden, this fictionalized version of the dictator's rise to power unfolds through the eyes of brash Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan, played by James McAvoy.

Garrigan becomes hopelessly entangled with Amin's barbaric regime when he becomes his personal physician and his new "white monkey."

At first, Garrigan is thrilled with his new position and the perks that come with being in the president's circle. But by the time he awakens to Amin's savagery and his own complicity in the regime, he is in well over his head.

Shot on location in the African country, the crew and cast-members captivated Uganda.

"People were so excited, I mean I was literally having dinner with the president's daughter," Washington told eTalk.

"It was a pretty outstanding experience, and it was a wonderful way for me it be introduced to the continent. I had never been to Africa, so I loved being there not as the 'other,' not as a tourist, but to go and literally become African for two months."

The film was also an eye-opening experience for Scottish-native McAvoy.

"I had never been anywhere so poor in my life, and I come from a really working class background and I considered myself to have working class values," he told eTalk.

"But after going there I realized that I am actually completely upper class ...it made me totally reevaluate my place in the world. And any working class chip I had on my shoulder I had to just brush off because it was quite insulting actually, for me to even consider myself downtrodden."

A one-time heavyweight boxing champ and soldier in the British colonial army, Amin seized power on Jan. 25, 1971, overthrowing president Milton Obote while Obote was abroad.

While Ugandans initially welcomed Amin's rise to power, what followed was a reign of terror that saw Amin expel tens of thousands of ethnic Indians and preside over the deaths of as many as 400,000 people.

A semi-literate school dropout, Amin once boasted that he knew "more than doctors of philosophy because as a military man I know how to act."

"I am a man of action," he said.

He was also a man of many words.

Amin once said that Hitler "was right to burn six million Jews," and offered to be king of Scotland if asked.

"He was going to free them from the bondage of English, he related to them because they were into clans, they (played) music when they fought, they told great stories, they partied," Whitaker said.

"He really liked them, so as a result he said 'I freed myself from the imperialist British, and now I will free you.'"

Amin even gave four of his children traditional Scottish names -- Campbell, McLaren, McKenzie and Mackintosh.

"Idi Amin is the last person to declare himself a king of Scotland, so you could argue that he is the last king of Scotland and no one has done it since. He did offer to be a monarch and throw the English out of our country, and if only we had taken him up on it, we could be free. But no we're still part of the U.K.," McAvoy quipped, clarifying that he was actually "quite happy to be British as well as Scottish."

Amin ruled until 1979, when he was ousted by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles.

A convert to Islam, Amin fled to Libya, then Iraq and finally Saudi Arabia, where he was allowed to settle provided he stayed out of politics. He died in Saudi Arabia three years ago.

The Last King of Scotland makes its world premiere at the Toronto film fest on Sept. 10.