Key facts
- Golden Village and Clover Films added eight more Teochew-language screenings of 'Dear You' in Singapore.
- The additional screenings will take place from June 25 to 29 at GV VivoCity.
- All previous Teochew-language screenings sold out rapidly.
- The film has achieved significant box-office success in China, grossing over 1.7 billion yuan.
- The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) permitted the additional Teochew screenings.
- The decision to add screenings was attributed to overwhelming audience demand.
Cinema operator Golden Village (GV) and film distributor Clover Films have added eight more screenings of the Chinese film 'Dear You' in its original Teochew language in Singapore due to overwhelming audience demand. The additional shows will be held from June 25 to 29 at GVmax at GV VivoCity, with tickets going on sale June 22.
All eight of the film's previously announced Teochew-language screenings, scheduled from June 18 to 21, sold out rapidly, with 4,800 tickets reportedly disappearing within two hours of their release on June 16. This strong response prompted the decision to add more sessions.
'Dear You', directed and co-written by Lan Hongchun, follows interconnected timelines of a grandson searching for his grandfather in present-day Thailand and a man seeking work in Southeast Asia in the 1940s. The film has been a major box-office success in China, grossing over 1.7 billion yuan (US$251 million).
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) had previously stated that the film's original Teochew version could be screened at premieres, festivals, and niche events, while the general release would feature a Mandarin-dubbed version to support Singapore's bilingual policy. However, the allowance for additional Teochew screenings was made on a case-by-case basis following the strong demand.
The decision to dub the film into Mandarin for its general release has sparked discussions online about the preservation of dialect heritage in Singapore. Politicians like Dennis Tan and Cai Yinzhou have weighed in on the importance of dialects as part of cultural heritage and the need for clarity on such decisions.