{"id":713401,"date":"2026-06-19T10:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/713401\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:50:15","slug":"dear-you-director-on-the-letter-writing-tradition-behind-the-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/713401\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dear You’ Director on the Letter-Writing Tradition Behind the Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDirector Lan Hongchun took the stage at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival<\/a> to discuss how \u201cDear You<\/a>,\u201d now one of China\u2019s most-talked-about films of the year, drew its emotional charge from qiaopi \u2013 the tradition of family letters and remittances exchanged between overseas Chinese communities and their relatives at home.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film has earned more than $255 million at the Chinese box office since opening in May, and carries a 9.3 rating on Douban. Lan spoke during the \u201cCultural Roots, Localized Narratives, and Emotional Resonance in Contemporary Chinese Cinema\u201d forum at the festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tSet within the world of qiaopi correspondence, \u201cDear You\u201d traces themes of waiting, distance, and enduring affection across generations. Lan said the film\u2019s connection with audiences ran deeper than its plot.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat moved audiences was not only the story itself, but also the cultural memory carried by qiaopi and by generations of ordinary people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tLan traced his instinct toward stories rooted in place and personal memory to his admiration for Taiwan filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien. \u201cHis films made me feel that stories from our own land, our own people and our own memories can also become cinema,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tReflecting on his broader filmmaking practice, Lan said each production had sharpened his understanding of the form. \u201cEach film should show some progress,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, the important thing is to keep learning and keep getting closer to people and the emotions I want to portray.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe director also acknowledged the support of Damai Entertainment, whose backing he credited with helping the film reach wider audiences following its word-of-mouth success. Xie Ying, vice president of Damai Entertainment, noted the company\u2019s relationship with Lan predated the film\u2019s release. \u201cWe first met Lan about five years ago,\u201d Xie said. \u201cThat relationship and trust have continued until today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Director Lan Hongchun took the stage at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival to discuss how \u201cDear You,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[290300,88,206,302984],"class_list":["post-713401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-dear-you","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-shanghai-international-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}