The movie
Amoeba
When school dropout Choo returns to her elite girls’ school, she teams up with three other misfits to form a secret gang that challenges the rules of their strictly controlled world in Singapore.
Description
In Singapore, school dropout Choo (16) returns to her elite Chinese girls’ school to take her final exams. Her small acts of rebellion against tyrannical teachers attract three other misfits: Vanessa, Gina, and Sofia. When Choo confides in them about the ghost in her room, they decide to gather evidence with a camcorder. The four become inseparable and find an unexpected ally in Sofia’s family chauffeur, Uncle Phoon (70). His stories about triad gangs in colonial Singapore inspire them to come up with a bold plan: to start their own gang. But how do you form a gang in modern Singapore, where even chewing gum is banned?
Inspired by her own strict upbringing in Singapore, Siyou Tan created this witty coming-of-age film. Her debut, Amoeba, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and shows how friendship and connection in a tightly regulated society can already become a form of resistance.
