After dominating the box office in China, Dear You opened in Singapore cinemas on Jun 18.
Only a Mandarin-dubbed version received approval for commercial cinema release. The original Teochew-language version was limited to special niche screenings, sparking calls for more opportunities to watch dialect films on the big screen.
On Monday, MDDI said it remained open to facilitating and supporting additional Teochew-language screenings if the film’s distributor applied for them.
The ministry also said it would adopt a more “flexible approach” when considering future applications to screen dialect-language films in cinemas.
IMDA and MDDI reiterated on Thursday that Mandarin continues to play an important unifying role among Chinese Singaporeans, while dialects remain “a valued part of Singapore’s cultural heritage and identity”.
“We are encouraged by the growing interest in dialects, including among younger Singaporeans and hope that these additional Teochew screenings enable more audiences to enjoy the film,” they added.
Directed and co-written by Lan Hongchun, Dear You follows two interconnected timelines – a grandson searching for his long-lost grandfather in present-day Thailand, and a newly married man who leaves China for Southeast Asia during the 1940s in search of work. The film has become one of China’s biggest box-office successes this year, grossing more than 1.7 billion yuan (US$250 million).