Dekanalog Lands North American Rights To 'Amoeba' — SkimNews
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- Diversion licensed North American rights to Tan Siyou's debut feature "Amoeba" to Dekanalog, in a deal negotiated by Mai Meksawan and George Schmalz.
- "Amoeba" premiered in TIFF 2025's Discovery section and won Best Youth Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, along with prizes at Pingyao, Taipei Golden Horse, and QCinema.
- The film follows a 16-year-old Singapore high school dropout who returns to an elite all-girls Chinese school and forms a gang inspired by a family driver's triad tales.
- "Amoeba" was co-produced by Singapore's Akanga Film Asia, Netherlands' Volya Films, France's Les Films d'Antoine, Spain's Mararía Films, and South Korea's The Widelog Office.
- Festival run spanned Busan, Hamburg, Rome Alice in the City, Marrakech, AFI Fest, Bangkok, Tokyo Filmex, and Singapore — collecting awards including FIPRESCI and the Taiwan Film Critics Society Award at Taipei Golden Horse.
- Dekanalog scheduled a US theatrical release for spring 2027, followed by VOD and Blu-Ray, plus a Canadian theatrical run.
- Schmalz said Dekanalog has built Asian-American and young cinephile audiences through prior theatrical releases of Constance Tsang's "Blue Sun Palace" and Liu Jian's "Art College 1994."
Why it matters: Dekanalog's spring 2027 release gives a film with 10+ festival awards across four continents a path to North American cinephile and Asian-American audiences — a demographic the distributor says it has cultivated through prior theatrical releases like "Blue Sun Palace" and "Art College 1994."
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