A City of Madness: Urban Cinephile Culture and the Golden Horse Awards

This essay argues that the evolution of the Golden Horse Awards cannot be understood through institutional history alone but must be viewed through its ongoing negotiation with cinephile culture, particularly through the affect of “madness.” While the awards began as a tool for anti-communist state propaganda, audience reception repeatedly transformed its cultural meaning, creating new forms of film appreciation specific to the postwar Taiwanese political and social context. This study thus contributes to our understanding of how film institutions and audience communities mutually construct cultural meaning, even under authoritarian conditions.