Poster of Northeast Past: Po Ma Zhang Fei. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Less than a month after winning awards — for most popular actress and directing — at Australia's International Chinese Film Festival in Sydney, the low-budget comedy Northeast Past: Po Ma Zhang Fei is making waves online.

The film's promotional music video, The World Speaks Northeastern Mandarin, has received more than 50 million clicks on the country's video-streaming sites, since it was released earlier this month.

The song in the music video is inspired by a demographic change: a growing number of people from northeastern China are migrating abroad.

The lyrics go like this: Wherever you are — in Beijing, Shanghai, Japan, the United States or Canada, you can hear people speaking Mandarin with a northeastern accent.

The so-called Northeastern Mandarin is encompasses all the dialects spoken in northeastern China, from Liaoning to Heilongjiang. The dialects are similar to standard Mandarin.

In the film, youngsters from northeastern China are trapped by a Hong Kong criminal ring, leading to a series of adventures.

The film, which features rising stars Ma Li and Jia Nailiang, will hit Chinese theaters on Feb 10.