LONDON -- Oscar-winning documentary director Kevin Macdonald's first feature, "The Last King of Scotland," will open the 50th edition of the Times BFI London Film Festival, organizers said Wednesday.

Billed as a European premiere, Macdonald's movie will unspool Oct. 18 in the event's opening gala slot.

Based on the award-winning novel by Giles Foden, the movie stars Forest Whitaker as the tyrannical Ugandan President Idi Amin, alongside a cast that includes James McAvoy and Gillian Anderson. Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock adapted the book for the screen.

Shot in Uganda and the U.K., the film details the story of a Scottish doctor who winds up as chief physician to one of the world's most notorious dictators, Idi Amin.

Macdonald won an Academy Award for "One Day In September" and BAFTA plaudits for his documentary "Touching The Void."

Executive produced by DNA Films' Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich and FilmFour chief Tessa Ross and produced by Andrea Calderwood, Charles Steel and Lisa Bryer. Christine Ruppert is co-producing.

Fox Searchlight Pictures will release the movie in the U.K. in January.

London Film Festival artistic director Sandra Hebron described the choice as being a perfect opening night flick for the event, calling it "a compellingly original British feature from an imaginative and talented young director."

Added Macdonald: "I'm so pleased to be having the European premiere of 'The Last King of Scotland' in my home city and at a festival where I myself have discovered so many wonderful movies over the years."