Overview
The Golden Horse awards ceremony is held after a month-long festival showcasing some of the nominated feature films for the awards. A majority of the film winners in the history of the awards have been Hong Kong productions. Submission period are usually around July to August each year and nominations are announced around October with the ceremony held in November or December. Winners are selected by a jury of judges and awarded a Golden Horse statuette during the broadcast ceremony.
In May 1962, the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) enacted the “Mandarin Film Award Regulation of Year 1962” to officially found the Golden Horse Awards. The name "Golden Horse" (金馬) comes from the islands of Kinmen (金門) and Matsu (馬祖), which are under ROC control.
Under current regulations, any film made primarily in a Chinese language is eligible for competition. Since 1996, a liberalization act allows for films from mainland China to enter the Awards. Mainland artists or films have won several times, such as Jiang Wen's In the Heat of the Sun in 1996, Best Actor for Xia Yu (夏雨) in 1996, Joan Chen's Xiu Xiu: the Sent down Girl in 1999, Best Actress for Qin Hailu (秦海璐) in 2001 and Lu Chuan's Kekexili: Mountain Patrol in 2004.
Read more about this topic: Golden Horse Film Festival And Awards