Amin film wins Golden globe award

Jan 17, 2007

FOREST Whitaker, who portrayed Idi Amin, former 1970s Ugandan dictator in the movie <i>The Last King of Scotland</i>, has received the Golden Globe award for ‘best actor in movie drama’.

By Raphael Okello

FOREST Whitaker, who portrayed Idi Amin, former 1970s Ugandan dictator in the movie The Last King of Scotland, has received the Golden Globe award for ‘best actor in movie drama’.

The awards, handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are normally a pointer to possible winners of the ‘Oscar’ awards, the highest honors in the film industry.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences names the ‘Oscar’ winners.
This means Whitaker has a chance of scooping an ‘Oscar’ award in February.

The movie, directed by Kelvin MacDonald, was shot in various locations around Uganda for over two months. Ugandans constituted 95% of the cast.

Abby Mukiibi, Sam Okello and Stephen Rwangyezi are some of the Ugandans who took up significant roles in the movie, based on Giles Foden’s 1998 novel The Last King of Scotland.

The movie will premier in Uganda on February 23. Kerry Washington, the Hollywood star who acted as Sarah Amin (one of Amin’s wives), is expected to attend.

The movie has already been shown in Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom, where critics quickly lauded Whitaker’s moving performance.

The actor captured Idi Amin’s divided evil and humane personality. It was not surprising, therefore, that Whitaker got the award.

The Golden Globe awards took place in Beverly Hills in California, USA, on Tuesday.

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