Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai has promised to increase sponsorship for next year's Golden Horse Awards and to augment support for Taiwanese movies and the cultivation of Chinese-language films.
Sponsored funds may be increased from NT$20 million to NT$30 million if the budget review process goes smoothly, Lung said at a farewell party after the 50th Golden Horse Awards successfully concluded in the early hours of Saturday. She also extended her appreciation to the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee for organizing the awards ceremony.
At the party, which was also a handover ceremony, Lung greeted the outgoing Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee Chair, world-renowned filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, in recognition of Hou's long-time contributions to the annual film festival. "Hou's professionalism has helped the Golden Horse Awards set an example for the Chinese-language filmmaking industry,” Lung said.
Lung also offered her support to renowned actress-director Sylvia Chang, Hou's successor as the Film Festival Committee Chair, and expressed her wish that the film festival would enter a new era by successfully integrating with international film communities.
The Golden Horse Awards, the oldest of their kind in the Chinese-speaking community, were founded in 1962 with the aim of promoting film production in Taiwan and recognizing outstanding Taiwanese films and filmmakers. The awards were later expanded to accept Chinese-language submissions from other parts of the world, such as Hong Kong, mainland China, Canada, and the United States.
The Golden Horse Awards areone of the four major Chinese-language film awards, alongside the Hong Kong Film Awards and the mainland China-based Golden Rooster Awards and Hundred Flowers Awards.