:: Sept 22, 2004: The Big Durian screens in the Dragons & Tigers Competition for East Asian Cinema at the Vancouver International Film Festival later this month. Four of Amir's earlier shorts - Lost, Friday, Checkpoint and Pangyau - will also be shown. Ho Yuhang's "Min" is the only other Malaysian film to be screened.

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July 22, 2004: In its second Japanese festival, The Big Durian screens at the Focus on Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival in September.

:: July 1, 2004: The Big Durian makes its French premiere at the Marseille International Documentary Festival this month.

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June 5, 2004: The Big Durian makes its African premiere later this month at the 25th Durban International Film Festival
South Africa.

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May 16, 2004: The Big Durian won the main Justin Louis Award in the Professional Category of the first Freedom Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur. A full-house screening was held a day earlier at HELP Institute.

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April 24, 2004: A Spanish-language review is published at the Argentinian site Otro Campo after its screening at Buenos Aires.

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April 10, 2004: The Big Durian screens in three more festivals in the coming month. It competes in South Korea's Jeonju International Film Festival; competes and makes its South American premiere at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente; and makes its UK premiere at the Commonwealth Film Festival.

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March 4, 2004: The Big Durian is in the Asian DV competition of next month's Hong Kong International Film Festival. Also at the festival are the new Malaysian feature "The Beautiful Washing Machine" and short "Goodbye", both by James Lee.

:: March 3, 2004: In its third American festival, The Big Durian screens at the Amnesty International Film Festival in Pittsburg later this month.

:: Jan 31, 2004: The Big Durian returns to Kuala Lumpur! There are two screenings today, at 1pm and 3pm at The Stonor Centre (formerly Sobranie Classic Cinema), 3 Lorong Stonor. Admission is RM10 and reservations can be made
by calling Lu Sean at (03) 2141 9620. Amir will be present after the screenings.

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Jan 28, 2004: The Big Durian screens at the Institute of South-East Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore today, with Amir giving a talk.

:: Jan 15, 2004: Hollywood bible Variety weighs in with its review. Read it here!

:: Jan 14, 2004: The Big Durian screens in the ASEAN competition of the Bangkok International Film Festival
later this month. Two other Malaysian movies, "Paloh" and "Room to Let" are also competing.

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Jan 12, 2004: Utusan Malaysia reports on The Big Durian's historic selection for the Sundance Film Festival.

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December 9, 2003: The Big Durian is the first Malaysian movie to be selected for the famous Sundance Film Festival in the USA, where it screens in the International Documentary category next month.

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November 8, 2003:
"Briskly paced, a story that once shattered KL city now resonates through the present in an entertaining, humorous and reflective film," says the catalogue for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

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November 6, 2003:
"Underground": An article by John Krich in the Far Eastern Economic Review on Malaysian independent cinema leads off by discussing The Big Durian. Click here for the text on this site.

:: November 6, 2003:
The Big Durian makes its European premiere in the First Appearance competition of the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival

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November 5, 2003:
University of Hawaii campus paper Ka Leo O Hawaii highly recommends The Big Durian as a "one film that you do not want to miss at this year's HIFF." Read the review at the Kaleo.org site, or the permanent link here.

:: November 3, 2003:
FIPRESCI juror Stephen Teo's report on the Yamagata festival entitled 'Pushing the Boundaries of Documentary' comments on The Big Durian.

:: October 31, 2003:
A blogger at tontonfilem.blog-city.com writes a glowing review. ["...witty, kelakar, bijaksana, sarcastic, bukan semua yang suka, tapi ramai juga yang makan..itulah Big Durian"]

:: October 25, 2003:
Read the 2003 Hawaii International Film Festival catalogue description of The Big Durian written by Tom Brislin here.

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October 20, 2003:
The Big Durian makes its North American premiere in early November at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

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October 16, 2003:
The Big Durian just received a Special Mention for the Ogawa Shinsuke Prize at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. The jury citation for The Big Durian reads: "While taking up a historical incident of superficially little relevance, the film reveals a deep social consciousness through a non-serious filmic style. The director uses his eccentric imagination and variety; full means of expression to reach a politically apathetic young audience."

:: October 12, 2003:
Mingguan Malaysia carries a review by Saifullizan Tahir, titled "The Big Durian Filem Malaysia". Click here if the link has expired.

:: October 4, 2003: Local blog Gonzalos.blogspot.com has much to say about the film including some colourful quotes on its Oct 4 posting ["Bagus siot cite nih, beb! Weh, bila kita nak pegi tengok lagi sekali?"], and even a deconstruction of the "The Big Durian" title (found in the comment index of the Oct 4 posting).

:: September 27 , 2003:
The Big Durian screens again in Kuala Lumpur in October! The venue is Sobranie Classics Cinema and the screening dates are Wed (1 Oct) - Sat (4 Oct) and also Mon (27 Oct) - Wed (29 Oct). Admission is RM10. For bookings and more inquiries, please contact Lu Sean at (03) 2141 9620 or by email.

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September 23 , 2003:
The Big Durian screens on Wednesday, October 1, at 7pm to students of the Film School of Tokyo. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Amir and Yamagata festival curator Fujioka Asako. Click here for an English article about the school.

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August 14, 2003:
The Big Durian screens in October in the New Asian Currents section of Japan's prestigious Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. It is one of only 30 works selected from over 800 entries.

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July 29, 2003:
In its third overseas festival, The Big Durian screens next month at the Cinemanila International Film Festival in The Philippines.

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July 10, 2003:
Abror Rivai's review in Siasah magazine, "Kemelut politik nasional, perkauman dan terkekangnya media dalam "The Big Durian" is now available online here. The article is also hosted on this site here.

:: July 9, 2003:
The Big Durian screens next week at the Cinefan Film Festival in India, together with Amir's 6horts and three other features from Malaysia.

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June 25, 2003:
The Big Durian is cited by Teng Qian Xi in Singaporean newspaper Today, in a commentary on freedom of expression and creativity. Click here for the online article on the ChannelNewsAsia website, or go here if that link has expired.

:: June 22, 2003:
The Cubit Manja column in Mingguan Malaysia carries a report about The Big Durian ("Amir menghasilkannya dengan waras lagi terbuka").

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June 16, 2003:
The Big Durian screens this Sunday, June 22 at 3 pm at the Five Arts Centre, 27, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Admission is RM10. There will also be a free, informal workshop conducted by Amir at the same venue from 5-7 pm for those who are interested in making their own non-fiction video projects. Participants should at least have a rough idea of the themes they are interested in pursuing. For details on the screening or the workshop please call Gan at 012 6911 398.
:: The Big Durian screened at 4:30 pm today to over a hundred students at Sunway College, as part of their Malaysian Studies class.

:: June 5, 2003:
KLue's cover story on The Big Durian and its premiere in Singapore is available here.

:: June 2, 2003:
Kakiseni.com publishes a review by Kam Raslan. ("The Big Durian shows how perceptions of events, facts, “facts”, the media and the government muddy our ability to understand what is happening around us and we invariably fall back on the one thing we know we can always trust – rumour.")

:: June 1, 2003:
The June print edition of Siasah magazine carries a review by Abror Rivai ("Filem ini wajib ditonton. Bukan semata-mata kerana persenyawaan cereka dengan dokumentari, tetapi kerana subjek yang dipilih agak luarbiasa berat bagi sebuah filem Malaysia.") Siasah is priced at RM4.50 and is on sale now.

:: May 27, 2003:
Tickets now on sale! The Big Durian will screen on June 4 & 5 (5pm) and June 6 (9 pm) at the Actors Studio Bangsar. It is part of a festival called Raise the Roof! organised by the Instant Cafe Theatre Company. Tickets are RM 20 and RM10 (students). All shows will be followed by a Q&A with Amir. Call the theatre at (03) 2094 0400 to book your seats.

:: May 25, 2003:
More comments on The Big Durian from the SIFF message board following the Singapore Film Society's screenings of Amir's films. Click here to go to a complete list of comments from the SIFF board. ("It was wonderful to see the Malaysians speaking in their Cantonese, Malay and other dialects in the film. In addition, it was precious how the sarcasm and criticism of the post-colonial political system came through in the film")

:: May 22, 2003:
1.
The current issue of the fortnightly KLue magazine (May 22 - June 3) has a cover story on The Big Durian and its premiere in Singapore. The 4-page article is written by Brian Yap ("Part of Amir's gift is his ability to make insightful political, social and cultural commentary imbued with his near-trademark dry humour and cheeky wit ... The Big Durian is a landmark achievement."). KLue is available at all good news-stands.

2. Composer Hardesh Singh writes an article on the process of the sound-mixing of The Big Durian, "Cleaning out the Noise" in the Audiophile section of The Star today.

3. In the first of its campus screenings, The Big Durian screened at 2pm at the Faculty of Creative MultiMedia, MultiMedia University today. The auditorium was almost full and the enthusiastic Q&A went on for half an hour.

:: May 11, 2003:
Review of The Big Durian found on the FilmsAsia website rates it 6 out of 10.

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May 8, 2003:
The Big Durian will be shown as part of The Instant Cafe Theatre Company's
RAISE THE ROOF! Festival in early June. Screening details: 4-5 June @ 5pm
and 6 June @ 9pm at the Actors Studio Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. All screenings
will be followed by a dialogue session with Amir. Ticket Prices: RM20 and
RM10 (students). For reservations or more info, call Adeline of Instant Cafe
at (03) 21485192 / 5234 or email instantcafe@po.jaring.my

:: May 6, 2003:
The Singapore Film Society will present 'Thorny Tales: Upfront with Amir Muhammad' on May 24 at the Goethe Institute, Singapore to members only, showcasing The Big Durian and Amir's short film series 6horts.There will be a Q&A session after the screening as well as a breakdown of selected scenes. For details, surf to their website, email http://thebigdurian.tripod.com/enquiry@sfs.org.s or (65) 901 70160.

:: May 5, 2003:
Amir wrote a little feature on the movie in Singaporean pop culture mag BigO.

:: April 30, 2003:
The first overseas screening at the 16th Singapore International Film Festival was a success and had a lively, lengthy Q&A. Read some of the responses from audience members at the SIFF website message board here ("The first truly Malaysian movie"). [Note: Amir also won Best Asian Digital Short at SIFF for Kamunting, for the second consecutive year]

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April 26, 2003:
Malaysiakini's report on The Big Durian's premiere is mirrored here.

:: April 23, 2003:
The worldwide premiere of The Big Durian! Click here for the first review, written by the blogger known as Nizam Zakaria ("Bagus jika ia dijadikan bahan kaji selidik mengenai budaya Malaysia"), who also took a couple of pictures of the maiden screening in Kuala Lumpur. Another review of The Big Durian can be found in Zulhabri's blog ("Aku dapat merasakan ketegangan yang wujud di ketika itu antara kaum Melayu dan Cina.")

:: April 16, 2003:
The Big Durian will premiere at the Actors Studio Theatre (Kuala Lumpur) on April 23, 2003 at 8.30pm. The Premiere is a charity screening and a minimum donation of RM50 is required. Proceeds will go to Malaysiakini.com in support of freedom of expression and the press. An informal discussion with the cast will be held after the screening.

Please contact Charmaine Ong at charmaine@malaysiakini.com or tel: (603) 2283-5567 to get an invite pass. To pick up your invitation, come to Malaysiakini's office, 2-4 Jalan Bangsar Utama 9, between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., by Monday, April 21.

A 6pm screening and Q&A will be held on the same day and venue but for students only. Invite passes for this screening are a minumum of RM 10 and can be purchased at the door as long as you have a valid student ID.

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April 13, 2003:
Cast page updated with cast pix, bio and comments.

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April 11, 2003:
Photo Stills page updated with low-res pix.

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April 1, 2003:
The (revamped) official website of The Big Durian goes online.

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January 27, 2003:
Pre-production for The Big Durian was featured in The Star.