To all film production organizations:

In accordance with the Charter of the China Golden Rooster Awards and the Detailed Rules for the Selection of the China Golden Rooster Awards, matters concerning submissions for the 39th China Golden Rooster Awards are hereby announced as follows:

Award Categories

The film awards of this edition are Best Feature Film, Best Low-to-Medium Budget Feature Film, Best Children’s Film, Best Documentary/Popular Science Film, Best Animation, Best Opera Film and Best Foreign Language Film.

The individual awards of this edition are Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Music, Best Sound, Best Editing and Best Directorial Debut.

A children’s film is a feature film with children or adolescents as the protagonists, or a feature film made specifically for minors under the age of 16.

Eligibility

(1) Films that received a public screening permit issued by the China Film Administration between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. This includes films produced by production organizations from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and films co-produced by mainland production organizations with production organizations from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan or with foreign production organizations. Cast and crew members of Chinese nationality (including those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) of films that meet the above conditions are eligible for the individual awards.

(2) Best Foreign Language Film is limited to foreign films imported for the first time that passed review by the China Film Administration and received a public screening permit between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, and whose world premiere took place no more than two years before June 30, 2026. These films compete only for Best Foreign Language Film and not for the individual awards.

Submission Procedure

The China Golden Rooster Awards are held once a year. Submissions for this edition are open from the date of this notice until July 12, 2026.

Production organizations can download the required entry forms from the China Film Association website, by scanning the QR code at the end of this notice, or from the cloud storage link.

After completing the forms, send them to the Awards Office as required by this notice.

Submission Materials

Submission materials include the following:

(1) Electronic materials:

1. The China Golden Rooster Awards Film Entry Form and Individual Award Entry Form (doc or docx format, no official seal required). After completing the forms, scan the QR code in the lower right corner of the form to register the relevant information;

2. High-resolution images: a scan (or photo) of the film public screening permit; at least one horizontal and one vertical film poster; 3-5 film stills; and 1-2 photos of each individual award entrant (frontal half-length and full-length portraits, not ID photos, with a clean background);

3. A brief synopsis (no more than 300 Chinese characters, doc or docx format);

4. Entrants for Best Screenplay must provide the screenplay (doc or docx format, without watermark, with the file name indicating whether it is original or adapted);

5. Individual award statistics form: films entered for individual awards must provide an individual award statistics form, with the file name changed to the film title (without Chinese title marks).

Store all the above electronic materials on a USB flash drive and send it to the Golden Rooster Awards Office together with the paper materials and other materials.

(2) Paper materials:

1. Paper entry materials

(1) A copy of the Film Public Screening Permit issued by the China Film Administration;

(2) The submitting organization’s letter of commitment and the individual entrant’s letter of commitment (paper copies only, no electronic copies);

(3) The China Golden Rooster Awards Film Entry Form and Individual Award Entry Form.

Paper entry materials (A4 size) should be bound into one volume per film in the following order: copy of the Film Public Screening Permit, submitting organization’s letter of commitment, individual entrant’s letter of commitment, film entry form, individual award entry form. If an individual award entry is the joint work of several people, each person must fill in a separate entry form page and indicate the order (names and order of the creators must match the film credits).

Each item above must bear the official seal of the submitting organization. Submit one set of sealed originals and 20 sets of copies.

2. Entrants for Best Screenplay must provide two copies of the screenplay (without watermark), with “original” or “adapted” marked in the upper right corner of the first page.

(3) Other materials:

1. A DCP without KDM that meets commercial cinema projection standards (with the dragon logo of the screening permit and without watermark, hard drive formatted as NTFS; DCPs of foreign language films must have the original-language soundtrack and Chinese subtitles; for multilingual versions, submit the version with the original voice of the actor award entrant);

2. The complete film (with the dragon logo and without watermark, no more than 3 GB, file named after the film title without Chinese title marks, in MOV or MP4 format, stored on a USB flash drive).

Notes

(1) Submitting organizations and reviewing units should act in a spirit of seeking truth from facts, screen entries strictly and submit only their best works.

(2) For films entered for the film awards, all items in the film entry form must be completed carefully; the names, order and number of the production companies must be consistent with the public screening permit. All award entries must be based on the opening and closing credits of the film.

(3) For entrants in the performance categories (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress), the character’s lines must be delivered in the entrant’s own voice or dubbed by the entrant. No more than 5 people per film may be entered for each performance category.

(4) Films entered for Best Low-to-Medium Budget Feature Film (feature films with a production cost below RMB 10 million) must state the production cost truthfully in the film entry form.

(5) Entrants may apply for only one of Best Director and Best Directorial Debut. A directorial debut must be the first film directed solely by the director that received a public screening permit.

(6) A film may be entered for only one of the film awards (Best Feature Film, Best Low-to-Medium Budget Feature Film, Best Children’s Film, Best Documentary/Popular Science Film, Best Animation, Best Opera Film, Best Foreign Language Film); multiple entries are not permitted.

(7) Individual award entrants must be Chinese nationals. If an entry is jointly credited to several people and includes a foreign collaborator, it cannot be entered for that individual award.

(8) Films previously entered for the Golden Rooster Awards may not be entered again for any reason or in a different version. Films that have been released but did not take part in previous editions may not be entered in a restored, improved or otherwise revised version.

(9) The film’s DCP is the final basis for judging. The DCP must be made by a professional production company, and its specifications and quality must meet commercial cinema projection standards. The DCP must have the original-language soundtrack and be in good condition. Failure to provide a DCP will be treated as withdrawal of the entry.

(10) Entries for the Golden Rooster Awards are submitted by post. DCP production costs, shipping and insurance costs for entry materials and other expenses are borne by the entrant. Except for the DCP, materials will not be returned; please keep the originals or backups.

(11) The submitting organization must be one of the co-producers. Any one co-producer may submit the entry materials and affix its official seal. The submitting organization must reach prior agreement with the other co-producers on the entry, to ensure a single submitting party and avoid duplicate submissions.

(12) The China Golden Rooster Awards charge no entry fees. All selected and award-winning works will be screened at the grassroots level through a regular screening and exhibition mechanism. Entrants must fulfil their social responsibility to bring the benefits of art to the people, and take an active part in creative practice rooted in everyday life, grassroots volunteer services and public cultural service projects, so that artistic achievements are widely shared and outstanding works serve the public and strengthen the people’s spiritual strength. Winners must sign the China Golden Rooster Awards Winner’s Letter of Responsibility after winning, in accordance with the unified requirements of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

This notice is hereby issued.

China Film Association

June 25, 2026

Mailing address: Room 310, China Film Association, No. 22 Beisanhuan East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Recipient: Golden Rooster Awards Office, China Film Association

Postal code: 100013

Telephone: 010-64296094

Email: cfapingjiang@163.com (for supplementary materials only)

China Film Association website: http://www.cfa1949.org.cn/

Baidu Netdisk link for entry forms: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1Mj2BQ_dUF17Vo_ttVRoyXg?pwd=mjga