Chinese Film

• Director Lan Hongchun created the diaspora drama Dear You, which earned $300 million in China after being produced on a $2 million budget. • The film's success is highlighted by its inclusion in the China Film Showcase at the Toronto International Film Festival. • The movie's popularity has triggered a tourism boom and helped reunite real-life families.

• The low-budget Chinese family drama "Dear You," performed in the Teochew language, has unexpectedly become a major box office hit in China. • The film explores themes of migration and identity, resonating with audiences despite being spoken in a dialect that many mainland Chinese viewers struggle to understand. • Beijing views the film's success as a strategic opportunity to strengthen cultural ties and court Chinese diaspora communities living abroad, such as those in Malaysia.

• A heartfelt Chinese film by director Lan Hongchun, the final part of a Teochew-dialect family trilogy, unexpectedly triggered intense political and cultural debates in Singapore. • Han Yong May, deputy editor-in-chief of SPH’s Chinese Media Group, analyzes how the film became a catalyst for a cognitive warfare campaign. • The situation is significant because it highlights vulnerabilities in Singapore's multiracial identity and how cultural media can be weaponized for political influence.