The premiere of The Big Durian by writer cum film-maker Amir Muhammad in Kuala Lumpur o­n Wednesday night attracted a full-house. It was an evening in which Amir compromised big screen experience for a 75-minute 'political' show in what could be considered as rare in the local film scene.

The digital film featured 23 Malaysians who gave their accounts of an incident o­n Oct 18, 1987 in which a soldier by the name of Private Adam ran amok with an M16 rifle in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur.

This sparked off a city-wide fear about a racial riot amid political tension within the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.