Overview
The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards is the highest recognition for Chinese-language cinema. Founded in 1962 in Taiwan, the Golden Horse Awards cover filmmakers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and the broader Chinese diaspora. The 62nd edition in 2025 received 593 submissions: 80 narrative features, 3 animated features, 64 documentary features, 310 live action shorts, 79 documentary shorts, and 57 animated shorts. The 63rd edition is scheduled for November 6 to 22, 2026, with the awards ceremony on November 22, 2026, at the Taipei Music Center.
Starting in 2025, all winning films in the short film categories are eligible for Academy Awards consideration. This makes the Golden Horse one of the few Asian festivals that can qualify short films for Oscar submission.
If you make Chinese-language films or films with significant Chinese-origin creative crew, the Golden Horse is the primary awards platform for your work. Visit the official submission page for current rules and deadlines.
History
The Golden Horse Awards were established in 1962 by the Republic of China government to encourage the development of Chinese-language cinema. The name "Golden Horse" refers to Kinmen (Jinmen), an island controlled by Taiwan. The awards have evolved over six decades from a government-supported promotional tool into an independent artistic institution.
Key eligibility expansions include: opening to all Chinese-language films regardless of production country; removing the screening permit requirement; and extending eligibility to films with at least half Taiwanese main crew. In 2025, the short film length limit was reduced from 60 to 40 minutes, and short film winners became Academy Award-eligible.
Major directors including Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai, and Jia Zhangke have all received Golden Horse recognition.
Submission Details
The Golden Horse Awards do not charge a submission fee. Submissions are made through the official website's online form.
63rd Golden Horse Awards (2026) submission schedule:
| Category | Opening Date | Closing Date |
|---|---|---|
| Short Films (Live Action, Documentary, Animated) | June 1, 2026 | June 30, 2026 |
| Features (Narrative, Documentary, Animated) | July 1, 2026 | July 31, 2026 |
| Nominations Announcement | October 1, 2026 | - |
| Awards Ceremony | November 22, 2026 | - |
Film Festival submissions (separate from awards competition) run June 1 to July 31, 2026. The festival accepts both feature-length films (60+ minutes) and Chinese short-length films (under 60 minutes).
The submission form must be completed in traditional Chinese, with English translation required for film title, producing companies, producers, directors, and all awards for individual categories.
Language Requirement: Chinese languages (including official and vernacular languages used in Chinese-speaking territories worldwide, excluding dubbing) must be used as dialogue in no less than half of the film. Films with no dialogue must meet the crew requirement instead.
Crew Requirement: For features, at least half of the main creative crew must be of Chinese origin across 15 categories. For short films, all directors must be of Chinese origin.
Film length: Features: 60 minutes or more. Short films (2025 onward): less than 40 minutes including all credits.
Premiere requirement: Films must not have been publicly screened before June 1, 2025 (for shorts) or July 1, 2025 (for features) for the 63rd edition, and must not have been submitted to the Golden Horse Awards in any other form or version.
Format: Films accepted for competition must be in DCP meeting industrial standard for theatrical screening.
Key Sections
- Golden Horse Awards Competition - the main awards competition across feature and short film categories. Over 30 award categories including Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Leading Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best Original/Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature, and Best Short Film.
- Golden Horse Film Festival - the screening program running alongside the awards. The 2025 festival ran November 6 to 22, screening all nominated films plus additional curated selections. Tickets go on sale October 26.
- Audience Choice Award - voted by festival audiences on November 8 and 9 at multiple venues across Taiwan.
- FIPRESCI Prize - awarded by international critics
- Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) - a project market for Chinese-language films in development
- WIP (Works in Progress) - presentations of Chinese-language films in post-production
Past Winners
62nd Golden Horse Awards (2025) - Best Narrative Feature: A Foggy Tale (directed by Chen Yu-hsun) - a historical drama set during Taiwan's White Terror period. The film won 4 awards total: Best Narrative Feature, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup and Costume Design. It also won the Audience Choice Award. Released theatrically in Taiwan on November 27, 2025, by distributor Musit Films.
62nd Golden Horse Awards (2025) - Best Director: Jun Li for Queerpanorama - a black-and-white film following a young man across multiple countries. Queerpanorama world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival's Panorama section. The film was also nominated for Best Narrative Feature, losing to A Foggy Tale by a vote of 8-7.
62nd Golden Horse Awards (2025) - Best Leading Actor: Chang Chen for Lucky Lu (directed by Lloyd Lee Choi). Lucky Lu also won Best New Director for Choi and Best Original Film Score. The film world premiered at Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2025.
62nd Golden Horse Awards (2025) - Best Leading Actress: Fan Bingbing for Mother Bhumi (directed by Chong Keat-aun). Mother Bhumi won 3 awards total.
62nd Golden Horse Awards (2025) - Lifetime Achievement Award: Chen Shu-fang, veteran actress.
Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up
The Golden Horse has been instrumental in launching and sustaining the international careers of Chinese-language filmmakers:
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) - Ang Lee is a multiple Golden Horse winner whose films have received global distribution. Crouching Tiger won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, grossed over $213 million at the U.S. box office, and revived the wuxia genre internationally.
- A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1989) - the first Taiwanese film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Hou Hsiao-hsien received the Golden Horse Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and won Best Director for The Assassin (2015) at the Golden Horse.
- Pushing Hands (Ang Lee, 1991) - Lee's feature directorial debut, which earned three Golden Horse Awards. Led to the "Father Knows Best" trilogy (The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman), both of which also received Golden Horse recognition and international distribution.
- Drifting (Jun Li, 2021) - won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards. Premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam. Jun Li returned to the Golden Horse with Queerpanorama in 2025, winning Best Director.
- A Foggy Tale (2025) entered with 11 nominations, the most of any film, and claimed 4 wins plus the Audience Choice Award, confirming the Golden Horse's role as a launchpad for domestic Taiwanese theatrical distribution.
Submission Tips Specific to This Festival
The Golden Horse is the only major awards platform dedicated exclusively to Chinese-language cinema. If your film meets the language requirement (Chinese dialogue in at least half the film) and the crew requirement (at least half of main creative crew of Chinese origin for features, all directors of Chinese origin for shorts), there is no submission fee and no downside to submitting.
The short film category change in 2025 (reduced from 60 to 40 minutes) means filmmakers should verify their film meets the new length requirement. Short film winners are now Academy Award-eligible.
For the festival screening program (separate from the awards competition), international filmmakers seeking Taiwanese distribution or audience exposure can submit.
Industry Reputation Notes
The Golden Horse is often called the "Chinese-language Oscars." Compared to the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA), which focuses on Hong Kong cinema, the Golden Horse has broader geographic reach across Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and the diaspora. Compared to the Tokyo International Film Festival, which programs Asian cinema more broadly, the Golden Horse is specifically focused on Chinese-language work.
The Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) is the most significant project market for Chinese-language films in development, comparable to Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) but with a stronger focus on art-house and auteur cinema.
Awards / Accreditation
Starting in 2025, all winning films in the short film categories (Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short) are eligible for Academy Awards consideration. This makes the Golden Horse a direct pathway to Oscar qualification for Chinese-language short filmmakers.
The 62nd edition presented awards across 24 categories including Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Leading Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best New Director, Best Original/Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature, and Best Short Film categories.
The awards ceremony is broadcast live in Taiwan on TTV and streamed on MyVideo and LINE TODAY. International viewers can watch on StarHub (Singapore), Astro (Malaysia), or the TGHFF and TTV YouTube channels.
What Filmmakers Should Know
The Golden Horse operates under Taiwan's democratic cultural framework, which gives it artistic independence respected across the Chinese-speaking world. Unlike government-administered awards in mainland China, the Golden Horse does not impose political content restrictions on submissions.
Political tensions between Taiwan and mainland China have periodically affected mainland Chinese filmmakers' participation. Filmmakers from mainland China should monitor cross-strait cultural relations when planning submissions. The Golden Horse remains open to mainland Chinese films under its eligibility rules.
The three-stage voting process (preliminary, nomination, final) means that winners are decided by a jury on the day of the ceremony. The jury lineup is announced in late October each year.
Watch
See Also
For understanding Chinese-language cinema, see International Film Markets. For festival strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. Use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator to plan your submission strategy.
