The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival said advance tickets for its November program will open Saturday, Oct. 25, giving audiences their first chance to book screenings for all nominated features ahead of the 63rd awards ceremony on Nov. 22.
Nomination leaderboard
Organizers announced nominations on Oct. 1, with Sabu’s thriller Arrested Memory leading at 11 nods and Shu Qi’s directorial debut Girl close behind with 10. Joseph Hsu’s Double Happiness and Yeung Leung-chuen’s We Are Born Good each earned nine, filling five of the best narrative feature slots alongside Anthony Chen’s We Are All Strangers.
Variety reported 587 entries this year across features, documentaries, animation and shorts. Ethan Juan, Leon Dai, Liu Kuan-ting and other performers headline the acting races, while Shu Qi competes for best new director against four other first-time filmmakers.
Festival schedule
Every nominated film will screen during the festival starting Nov. 6 at venues across Taipei. The executive committee named veteran colorist Chou Chia-sheng as outstanding Taiwanese filmmaker of the year, citing his work on titles such as Us and Them, Dear Ex and The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon.
Ticket sales on Oct. 25 follow the festival’s usual pattern: online queues open in the morning, with member presales for cinema club subscribers. Organizers urged fans to verify showtimes on the official site because some documentaries run only once with director Q&A sessions.
Awards broadcast changes
This year’s ceremony moves to Sunday, Nov. 22, at Taipei Music Center rather than the traditional Saturday slot, with Taiwan Television carrying the live broadcast and Taiwan Mobile’s MyVideo holding streaming rights. StarHub and Astro will air the show in Singapore and Malaysia, while YouTube streams internationally.
Jury names will be released in late October after three rounds of voting—preliminary, nomination and final ballots—with winners announced live. Critics said the Sunday shift may help ratings among younger viewers who stream on phones, but arthouse cinemas worry about Monday-morning fatigue after midnight screenings.
Audience vote events
The Golden Horse audience choice award returns with weekend events Nov. 7-8 in Hualien, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, with registration that opened Oct. 7. Festival staff said the roadshow lets voters outside Taipei see contenders before casting ballots, part of an effort to decentralize culture spending after pandemic-era travel slumps.
Industry stakes
For distributors, nominations already boosted presales for Arrested Memory and Girl after Venice and Toronto festival runs. Streaming platforms are bidding for post-awards windows, though Taiwan’s theatrical exclusivity rules keep most titles in cinemas through November.
Shu Qi’s Girl in particular drew attention as a actress-turned-director project shot with Applause Entertainment backing, signaling investor appetite for female-led crews. Sabu’s Japanese-Taiwan co-production underscores Golden Horse’s role as a regional hub for Chinese-language cinema even as political tensions complicate co-productions with mainland partners.
Practical tips for fans
Festival veterans recommend creating accounts on the ticketing portal before Oct. 25, listing backup screenings for popular slots, and checking Mandarin-subtitle availability for Hong Kong entries. COVID-era spacing rules are gone, but theaters may still cap rush lines if fire codes require.
With summer blockbusters fading, Golden Horse month is Taipei’s annual reminder that local stories can dominate box-office conversation—and that getting a seat requires acting as fast as the nominees on screen.