The programme for the 2006 London Film Festival was announced this morning, kicking off with The Last King of Scotland.

Sandra Hebron, the festival's artistic director, introduced the line-up for what will be the event's 50th anniversary. Recognising festival-goers' high expectations, she was insistent that the schedule would not disappoint.

Hebron described Kevin Macdonald's opening night film, starring Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson, as "original, imaginative, intelligent and absolutely gripping from start to finish". She noted that the combination of personal and political present in the Idi Amin-themed film is a thread common in the productions on offer.

Among the feature films being screened at the festival are Emilio Estevez's Bobby, Will Ferrell comedy Stranger Than Fiction, Richard Linklater's adaptation of Eric Schlosser's appetite-destroying bestseller Fast Food Nation and Chinese movie Still Life, the winner of the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion.

Discussing filmmaking in career interviews will be an impressive group of speakers including Tim Burton, Richard Linklater and Dustin Hoffman, whilst Emilio Estevez, Anthony Minghella and Peter O'Toole are amongst the other names in attendance.

Ending proceedings will be Babel, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal.

Hebron said of the line-up: "In this significant year, we're very excited to be able to bring such a strong selection of original and distinctive films to London, together with some truly innovative special events. We're looking forward to welcoming all our participating filmmakers, audiences and press and industry delegates to join us in celebrating the Festival's 50th anniversary and its promising future."

Stick with Digital Spy for coverage of the 50th London Film Festival, which runs from October 18 to November 2.