Golden Dolphin 2026: these are the winners of the 18th edition

The 18th edition of the Golden Dolphin has its winners. The ceremony was held on October 31 in Xiamen and brought together anime, manga and video game creators, as well as experts, businesspeople and investors from around the world.

The award is organized by the Xiamen municipal government and is the only professional animation contest in China recognized by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA). This year, prizes were handed out in three main areas: animation, comics and video games, with a new category dedicated to AI-generated imagery.

The big winners in animation

In the feature film category, gold went to Ran Bi Wa, a production by Shanghai Animation Film Studio that explores local Chinese culture with its own visual and narrative style. The award for best animated series went to Huang Shen Lu Zhi Ling Long Shan, while Cinema Sleep Guide won in the short film category.

In the comics section, the top honor went to Ni Men Da Ren Kan Bu Jian.

Video games with express development

The video game development contest stuck with an intense format: participants had 21 days to create a game based on an assigned theme. Nearly 500 entries competed for the prizes.

Gold went to Cody Blocks. In addition, Duck Tour Group took the award for best creativity and REBOOT received the special Cross-Strait Star award, which recognizes projects from the Taiwan Strait region.

AI makes a strong debut

The big novelty this year was the AI imagery category, which attracted more than 3,000 creators. The gold winners were Yan Ran in AI animated comic, Centenarian Kindergarten in AI short film and Here Come The Sheep in the AI animation hackathon.

In total, the contest received 2,569 works from 55 countries and regions, with 432 international entries. It is a figure that confirms the event's growth outside China and cements it as a showcase for spotting where global animation is heading.

In addition to the awards ceremony, the event featured parallel activities such as business rounds, project presentations and a festival for the public, designed to connect creators with companies and investors.