Draft:Golden Harvest Awards

The Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films (獎勵優良影像創作金穗獎) is a film award established by the Government Information Office (新聞局) of Taiwan in 1978. The purpose of the award is to support young talents in Taiwanese cinema and to promote the production of films with high artistic value and creativity. Starting in May 2012, as part of the "government organization reform," the award has been continued by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development of the Ministry of Culture (文化部影視及流行音樂產業局). The awards ceremony are divided into two categories: general works and student works. In addition to the grand prize, it presents altogether twenty-six awards, such as best short film, best documentary short film, best animated short film, best experimental short film, and individual awards for director, script writer, actor, cinematographer, art director, and other participants. Altogether 26 are presented in the annual event, which used to be organized by Taiwan Film Institute (國家電影中心; formerly Chinese Taipei Film Archive 國家電影資料館) and is currently organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee (臺北金馬影展執行委員會).

History
In 1977, the Government Information Office, which was also in charge of the affairs of the Film Development Foundation, ROC (中華民國電影事業發展基金會), invited professionals from the film industry and film scholars to attend the "Experimental Film Exhibition Symposium" held on October 1. During the meeting, participants strongly advocated for the establishment of an experimental film exhibition similar to those held in Hong Kong, which would encourage and reward young filmmaking talents. As a result, on December 7, the Film Development Foundation announced the "Golden Harvest Award for Outstanding Experimental Films" (獎勵優良實驗電影金穗獎).

Initially, the Golden Harvest Award had categories for 16mm and 8mm films, which were further divided into feature films, short films, documentary feature films, and documentary short films. However, due to the hasty establishment and vague objectives, experimental film was not included despite the fact that “experimental films” was in the title of the award. In 1979, the Government Information Office adopted the suggestions of scholars and experts and, starting from the second edition, eliminated the division between feature films and documentary films, only keeping the categories of feature film and short film. The quality of the entries improved significantly compared to the first edition. The awarded films were screened at the Film Library, which later became the Chinese Taipei Film Archive, and toured in central and southern Taiwan.

In 1982, taking inspiration from the "Hong Kong Independent Short Film Festival," the “Golden Harvest Award for Outstanding Experimental Films” was renamed the "Golden Harvest Award for Outstanding Short Films" (優良創作短片金穗獎) The award categories were divided into narrative films, experimental films, documentary films, and animated films, each further differentiated by 16mm and 8mm formats. In the late 1980s, in response to the development of video technology and home electronic media, video works were included in the eligible entries since the 12th edition in 1989. The award was renamed the "Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films and Video Tapes" (優良創作短片及錄影帶金穗獎).

From the 27th (2004) to the 29th (2006), in line with the digital era, the award underwent several revisions in terms of its name and award categories, and new individual awards were introduced. The distinction based on film, video tape, and digital formats gradually faded away. Since then, the name “Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films” (優良影像創作金穗獎) has been used until today, in abbreviation “Golden Harvest Awards” (金穗獎).

The Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films had been organized by the Film Library, Chinese Taipei Film Archive, and Taiwan Film Institute since its inception in 1978. Starting from 2020, it began to be organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee. Starting from 2021, the Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films decided to allow all nominated films to compete for the highest honor, the "Golden Harvest Grand Award” (金穗大獎) with prize money six hundred thousand NT dollars. There are eight awards for the director of the following films with prize money three hundred thousand NT dollars. Golden Harvest Awards also selects eight films for Special Juror Award (評審團特別獎), whose directors receive two hundred thousand NT dollars prize money.  For the individual awards, up to eight individuals can be awarded with ten hundred thousand NT dollars for outstanding achievement.

The “Blog Master Recommendation Award” of The Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films is an unofficial award proposed by the well-known Taiwanese film critic Wen Tien-Hsiang at the 29th Golden Harvest Awards in 2007. The proposal of this award was to follow the good traditions of some international film festivals, which had similar influential unofficial awards, such as the "Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI)" and the "Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC)." Awards like these provide alternative viewing tastes from the official jury. Since its establishment, each year, bloggers who use blogs as their primary platform for film reviews, and who have continued to write on Taiwanese cinema, are invited to recommend one winner from the nominated films for the recommendation award.

Entries and eligibility
Only those who are citizens of the Republic of China or those who have resident permits are qualified for application entries. The Golden Harvest Award has encouraged many non-citizen directors, such as Tsai Ming-liang, Chiang Wei-Liang and Midi Z.