The festival
Founded in 1962, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious film awards in the Chinese-speaking world, often called the ‘Chinese-language Oscars.’ Its juried, region-spanning awards carry major weight across Taiwan, Hong Kong and the global Chinese diaspora. The event combines a competitive awards ceremony with an international festival showcase, a film academy and a project market.
Worth knowing
The name ‘Golden Horse’ (Jin Ma) comes from the first characters of Kinmen (Jinmen) and Matsu, two outlying Taiwan-administered island groups. The accompanying Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival showcase was added in 1980.
How to attend
Festival screening tickets are sold to the public through the official Golden Horse website and its ticketing partners during the festival; the televised awards ceremony itself is an industry/invitation event.
Awards & submissions
The Golden Horse Awards are among the most prestigious honors in Chinese-language cinema, open to films made primarily in Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China and the wider diaspora. The juried awards span Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, the leading and supporting acting categories and a full range of craft prizes, along with Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and short-film categories. The ceremony sits alongside the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival showcase, added in 1980, plus the Golden Horse Film Academy for emerging directors and the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion market. Festival screening tickets are sold to the public through the official Golden Horse website during the event, while the televised awards ceremony itself is an industry and invitation affair. Films are entered for competition under the awards’ published guidelines, with eligibility and deadlines set each year on the goldenhorse.org.tw site.
Official site →Dates and programs change year to year — check the official site for the current edition.