Two film awards reveal the battle for the future of Chinese cinema

ON THE FACE of it, the Golden Horse and the Golden Rooster awards ceremonies are remarkably similar events. Both are glitzy and take place in November. Both celebrate the year’s best Chinese-language films. Both give out golden animal figurines to the winners.But a closer look exposes a chasm between them. The Golden Rooster awards, hosted in Xiamen, a port city in south-east China, on November 4th, featured mainland Chinese films approved by Communist Party . Most were big-budget blockbusters and heavy on special effects, handsome heroes and nationalism.