In this file photo, actress Sylvia Chang arrives at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan. — AP photos

"The Great Buddha +" led the pack Sunday with 10 nominations, including best feature film and best new director, for next month's Golden Horse Awards. The movie is about a security guard at a factory who watches the dash camera footage of his boss's car for fun. He gets more than he bargained for when his rich boss's misdeeds begin to unravel in front of him. Originally a documentary filmmaker, "The Great Buddha +" director Huang Hsin-yao shot the movie in black and white, and wanted to highlight Taiwanese social issues with the film.

Trailing behind with seven nominations are three films, including the family drama "Love Education," the suspense thriller "The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful" and the comedy "See You Tomorrow." Three of the top-nominated films, including "The Great Buddha +," "Love Education" and "The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful," are nominated for best feature film. Also nominated in that category are two Chinese movies - the comedy "Free and Easy" and the coming-of-age film "Angels Wear White."

For the first time in Golden Horse Awards history, three females are nominated for best director - veteran Sylvia Chang for "Love Education," Hong Kong's Ann Hui for "Our Time Will Come" and Chinese director Vivian Qu for "Angels Wear White." Their male counterparts include Yang Ya-che for "The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful" and Geng Jun for "Free and Easy." In the best actor category, past winner Huang Bo ("The Conformist") will face off against four first-time best actor nominees.

For best actress, past winners including Shu Qi ("The Village of No Return"), Sylvia Chang, who's also nominated for best director for "Love Education," and Kara Wai ("The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful") face off against two first-time nominees. The Golden Horse Awards, which will be handed out Nov. 25 in Taipei, are one of the most prestigious film awards for Mandarin-language cinema, with movies from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong vying for honors.--AP