National Film Award – Special Jury Award (non-feature film)

The National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Non-Feature Film) is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India.

It is one of several awards presented for non-feature films. The recipients of Special Jury Award are awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus), cash prize of ₹100,000 (US$1,300) and certificate of merit; whereas recipients of Special Mention are awarded with certificate of merit.

The award was instituted in 1978, at 26th National Film Awards and awarded annually for the short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages.

Winners

Awards legends
	Special Mention

Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus), cash prize of ₹200,000 (US$2,500) and certificate of merit for the recipients of Special Jury Award; whereas recipients of Special Mention are awarded with certificate of merit. This award considers all the aspects of film making than individual area. Following are the award winners over the years:

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), awarded as, film(s), language(s) and citation
Year	Recipient(s)	Awarded as	Film(s)	Language(s)	Citation
1978 (26th)	Loksen Lavnani for Films Division	Director	The Burning Stone	English	For the sincerity and commitment of the filmmaker in this stark and uncompromising film in which the raw truth is portrayed with no attempt to make it palatable.
1979 (27th)	No Award
1980 (28th)	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	• Producer  • Director	The Chola Heritage	English	For its outstanding photography of the Chola sculpture.
1980 (28th)	• Films Division  • P. C. Sharma	• Producer  • Director	Pampa	English	For its sensitive handling of a purposeful theme, encouraging initiative as a child.
1981 (29th)	No Award
1982 (30th)	No Award
1983 (31st)	• National Institute of Design  • I. S. Mathur	• Producer  • Director	Jalshakti	Hindi	–
1983 (31st)	• Kerala State Film Development Corporation  • Joy Mathew	• Producer  • Director	Thalam	Malayalam	–
1983 (31st)	National Institute of Design	Producer	Energy-Merry-Go-Round	English	–
1983 (31st)	–	Best Biographical Film	Veer Savarkar	Marathi	–
1983 (31st)	–	Best Scientific Film	Handling Fuel Oils Fission Power 306 Rejuvenation	English	–
1983 (31st)	–	Best Exploration/Adventure Film	Against Current Exploration Antartica	English	–
1983 (31st)	–	Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film	• Cobra: The Snake God  • Perumkaliattam  • Leather Puppetry of Karnataka  • Nishan	• English  • Malayalam  • English  • Hindi	–
1983 (31st)	–	Best Exploration/Adventure Film	Against Current Exploration Antartica	English	–
1983 (31st)	–	Best Historical Reconstruction Film	• Tambaccucha Samna  • Bidaai	• Marathi  • Hindi	–
1984 (32nd)	Hemkunt Saahib	–	–	–	–
1985 (33rd)	Rajan Khosa	Director	Bodhvriksha	Hindi	For his sensitive exploration of the anguish of a woman nursing her aged, paralysed grandmother. The film is characterised by economy and control and innovative cinematic form.
1985 (33rd)	• FTII  • Ramesh Handoo	• Producer  • Director	Prisoners of Circumstances	Telugu	For its objective presentation of the inhuman treatment of children in remand homes.
1985 (33rd)	• R. K. Gupta  • Gul Bahar Singh	• Producer  • Director	Anukaran	Telugu	For a poignant of discrimination against women in Indian society.
1986 (34th)	Yash Chaudhary	Director	Equal Partners	English	For the deft handling of a complex subject designed to promote better understanding between nations.
1987 (35th)	Rajiv Mehrotra	• Producer  • Director  • Cameraman	Barren Harvest	English	For his creative and sensitive handling of the serious iodine deficiency in flood prone areas of Eastern UP.
1987 (35th)	Ashok Gunjal	Cameraman	The Kingdom of God	English	For his aesthetically pleasing and technically proficient camerawork.
1988 (36th)	Mani Kaul	Director	Before My Eyes	–	For capturing the texture of Kashmir's landscape with a rare control over cinematic form that combines visual poetry with an effective use of sound on a track that uses no commentary.
1988 (36th)	N. H. Prasad	Director	Dispossession	English	For its fresh and innovative experimentation with cinematic form, dealing with an unusual theme.
1989 (37th)	K. R. Mohanan	Director	Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval	Malayalam	For excellence in the use of cinema in projecting the intricate relationship between the drummer and the dancer in Kathakali.
1990 (38th)	Gulzar	Director	Ustad Amjad Ali Khan	Hindi	For bringing out the essence of a man and his music, emphassising the qualities of an artiste being distinct, but not distant from the people, as part of an unbroken tradition.
1990 (38th)	Raj Gopal Rao	Director	Technique of Seed Production in Wheat and Paddy	English	For effective dissemination of agricultural information.
1990 (38th)	Siddharth Kak	Director	Cactus and Roses	English	For his sophesticated presentation of a pioneering industrial establishment.
1990 (38th)	Dilip Ghose	Director	Aadhi Haqueeqat Aadha Fasana	Hindi	For deglamourising the world of cinema in the minds of innocent toddler talent.
1990 (38th)	Naresh Saxena	Director	Sambandh	Hindi	For the excellent nucleus of an idea, building an emotional bridge between a family and a tree.
1991 (39th)	Aribam Syam Sharma	Director	Meitei Pung	English	For sensitively depicting the role that Pung, the traditional drum, plays in the Sankirtana and social life of Manipur.
1991 (39th)	B. Narsing Rao	Director	Akruti	–	For experimentation with forms of boulders of various shapes and textures, brilliantly visualised by Apurba Kishore Bir with the evocative music of Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia.
1991 (39th)	Debal Basu	Director	Living on the Junk	English	For his work in directing the film. The film is a sincere maiden effort in focussing attention on the significant contribution of ragpickers of a metropolis in minimising the treat to the environment from the junk of a consumerist society.
1992 (40th)	• Salam Karassery  • Sasibhushan	• Producer  • Director	Noottantinte Sakshi	Malayalam	For a moving narrative about the courageous Maulvi patriot and centenarian Moidu Maulvi of Calicut, Kerala.
1993 (41st)	Murali Nair	Director	Tragedy of an Indian Farmer	English	For transcreating a well-known and touching Malayalam poem into a celluloid poem, with great sensitivity and economy.
1993 (41st)	Mahesh Thottathil	Director	Death of a Prodigal Son	• Hindi  • English	For an interesting exploration of the stream-of-consciousness of a dying man in a restrained and stylised student film.
1994 (42nd)	Soumitra Sarkar	• Producer  • Director  • Screenwriter	Games We Played in My Youth	• English  • Bengali	For a refreshingly whimsical poem, which delights in the surprise of shifts and displacement.
1994 (42nd)	Arun Kumar Roy	• Director  • Screenwriter	Of Tagore and Cinema	English	In acknowledgement of its archival value.
1994 (42nd)	Gautam Haldar	Director	The Story of Integration	English	In acknowledgement of his painstaking attempt to bring its subject to life.
1994 (42nd)	Kaviyoor Sivaprasad	• Director  • Screenwriter  • Editor	Ormaynde Theerangalil	Malayalam	In acknowledgement of his lyrical evocation of the passage of time.
1995 (43rd)	Sehjo Singh	• Producer	Sona Maati	Marwari	For presenting an excellent, inspiring portrait of a woman peasant who is leading the struggle of women against land grabbing.
1995 (43rd)	Arvind Singh	Director	Ajit	Hindi	For his sensitive portrayal of migrant child labour.
1995 (43rd)	Rashmi Film Society	Producer	Ithihasathile Khasak	• English  • Malayalam	For its brave attempt to interpret a literary work, cinematically.
1995 (43rd)	Biswadeb Dasgupta	• Producer  • Director	Majhi	Bengali	For presenting with sincerity that human values ultimately triumph.
1996 (44th)	Nilotpal Majumdar	• Producer  • Director  • Cinematographer	Dhatu Jhar '96	Bengali	For his bold and experimental exploration of the dilemma between discovery and destruction.
1997 (45th)	Gulbahar Singh	Director	Gotipua	English	For a well researched portrayal of the still-vital dance form which is the predecessor and creative source of the Odissi tradition.
1998 (46th)	Pavan Malhotra	Actor	Faqir	Hindi	For superb restraint in portraying of Innocence, in Gautom Ghose's film Faqir.
1998 (46th)	Unni Vijayan	Director	Jee Karta Tha	Hindi	For his realisation of an innovative and a personalised style of constructing the film.
1999 (47th)	Deep Prakash	Director	Of Confucius, S-Spots and Toyguns	• English  • Hindi  • Marathi  • Tamil	For its stylised, graphic and playful narrative on modern life, violence and the contemporary media.
1999 (47th)	Vinod Subramanian	Director	Fire	• English  • Hindi	For its imaginative and multifaceted presentation of the theme.
2000 (48th)	• Roabin Mazumdar  • Lygia Mathews	• Producer  • Director	A Memory of the Sea	English	For her skilful narration of the various cultures and religions from across the sea, that have historically influenced the coastal life of Malabar.
2000 (48th)	Amal Neerod C. R.	Cameraman	Meena Jha	Hindi	For his pictorial vision and capturing of images imaginatively showing great promise.
2000 (48th)	Haimanti Banerjee	Director	Balgandharv	Marathi	For effectively capturing the spirit of the legendary Marathi theatre personality Balgandharv, the singer, well known for his portrayal of women characters.
2001 (49th)	• Kireet Khurana  • Bhimsain	• Producer  • Director	Orchestra	Hindi	For effectively conveying the message of national integration through synchronous use of sound and animated images of musical instruments.
2001 (49th)	A. R. Tripathi	Producer	Kalahandi	• Oriya  • English	For his carefully crafted words giving an additional dimension to the film.
2001 (49th)	Sonali Kulkarni	Actress	Chaitra	Marathi	For the subtle display of her wide range of emotions.
2002 (50th)	Wrik Basu and team	Director	00:00	English	For its intelligent and engaging use of cinematic form and structure as it weaves itself in and out of hotel rooms and peoples lives on New Years Eve at a sea-side hotel.
2002 (50th)	Raja Mitra	Director	Kalighat Paintings And Drawings	English	For its significant achievement in documenting the rich artistic tradition and its implicit social commentary.
2003 (51st)	• Kadhambari Chintamani  • Ajit Oommen	• Producer  • Director	The Lijjat Sisterhood	English	For documenting the inspiring story of hundreds of women workers in the Lijjat papad making, selling and exporting. Through the first person interviews ranging from the oldest to the youngest, it is a vibrant narration of a unique experiment turned famously successful.
2003 (51st)	Sudhakar Reddyr	Director	Ek Aakash	–	For starting off as a simple rivalry of two kids from different backgrounds; in kite flying, becomes a battle of one-upmanship. Both are led by their ego and aggressive instincts, but eventually reach a point when they need others help.
2003 (51st)	Shilpi Dasgupta	Director	Mangali: An Exorcision	–	For the thoughtful and laudable craft that shaped the film.
2003 (51st)	Aseem Bose	Cameraman	Water	English	For enhancing the impact of the film with his eloquent lens, that captures the spirit of the subject of the film.
2004 (52nd)	Amit Dutta	Director	Kshy Tra Ghya	Hindi	For evolving an experimental form of narration within a story form, with excellent special visual effects in an innovative style.
2005 (53rd)	Rakesh Sharma	Director	Final Solution	• Hindi  • Gujarati  • English	For its powerful, hard-hitting documentation with a brutally honest approach lending incisive insights into the Godhra incident, its aftermath and the abetment of large-scale violence.
2005 (53rd)	Vibhu Puri	Director	Chabiwali Pocket Watch	Hindi	For a director’s film with competent execution of a good concept with great art direction, cinematography and performances.
2005 (53rd)	Bidyut Kotoky	Director	Bhraimoman Theatre	Assamese	For its fascinating picture of a cultural sub-world of Assam, capturing true moments of emotion and joy.
2006 (54th)	• Anuradha Mookerjee  • Manash Bhowmick	• Producer  • Director	Lama Dances of Sikkim	English	For presenting the ritualistic significance and the colourful nature of the Lama mask dances in cinematic language.
2006 (54th)	• Kuldip Sinha  • Suresh Menon	• Producer  • Director	Special Children	English	For highlighting the problems faced by special children or differently abled children and their families-an aspect of our society that is still not receiving adequate attention.
2007 (55th)	• Amalan Datta  • Anirban Datta	• Producer  • Director	Bhultir Khero	Bengali	For its brilliant evocation of Kolkata. The film brings out sights and sounds, smells and stories, myths and memories in a manner that is realistic and yet magical.
2007 (55th)	• Public Service Broadcasting Trust  • Vipin Vijay	• Producer  • Director	Poomaram	Malayalam	For its creative use of visual craft to reflect on the relationship between menstrual rituals, the colour red and nature of human existence. The film engages the audience very deeply in its experimental exploration of the inner life of young women protagonists and their unique relationship with blood.
2008 (56th)	Rajesh S. Jala	Director	Children of the Pyre	Hindi	Constrained by the stifling and searing world of children working in cremation grounds, the film helps them to recreate a world of their own. The director captures rare reflexive moments of the children and makes the viewers live their pain, joys and dreams.
2008 (56th)	Aniket Rumade	Child actor	Vitthal	Marathi	For his excellent portrayal of a young boy, Vitthal, dealing with ritualistic norms forced on him and his struggle to contain the anger brewing within.
2009 (57th)	Aasna Aslam	Child actor	Kelkkunnundo	Malayalam	For her natural, sensitive and touching performance.
2009 (57th)	Nikita Bhagat	Cinematographer	Vilay	–	For her evocative and pathbreaking camerawork. The innovative use of shift focus brought, images, textures and emotions to life.
2010 (58th)	Shiny Jacob Benjamin	Director	Ottayal (One Woman Alone)	Malayalam	For a heart warming portrayal of the woman Daya Bai, who trades along a challenging path in quest of truth. The director, delves into the spirit of the woman to understand the theology of liberation, with sincerity and intelligence.
2010 (58th)	Ronel Haobam	Director	The Zeliangrongs	• Manipuri  • English	For a well researched endeavour to reflect a composite group of ethnic communities of common origin and socio-cultural back-ground, which highlights the rich cultural heritage and the tribes’ traditional way of life, which is on the brink of extinction.
2010 (58th)	Suraj Pawar	Child actor	Pistulya	• Marathi  • Telugu	For displaying, under distressing situation and harsh reality, Pistulya, the child protagonist, the authenticity with vibrant and emotive expression.
2011 (59th)	Anand Patwardhan	Director	Jai Bhim Comrade	Marathi	For his uncompromising and passionate style of documentary filmmaking, which relentlessly brings into sharp focus the socio political issues of national importance.
2011 (59th)	Spandan Banerjee	Director	You Don’t Belong	• Bengali  • English	For creating an enjoyable musical journey that reveals the growth of a song from the pen of a poet to mainstream culture.
2011 (59th)	Renu Savant	Director	Airawat	• Marathi  • Hindi	For imaginatively painting a layered world of memories and modernity in a small town neighbourhood.
2012 (60th)	• Shumona Goel  • Shai Heredia	Director	I Am Micro	English	For a journey in black and white against the backdrop of an abandoned factory, overlaid with the reflections of a filmmaker. A powerful experimental essay which leaves one with lots of questions.
2012 (60th)	Vasudha Joshi	Director	Cancer Katha	English	For a very personal rendition of a filmmaker's tryst with cancer – dealing with the harsh reality of the disease and unfolding the relationship of life, death, and film-making.
2012 (60th)	Priya Goswami	Director	Pinch of Skin	• English  • Hindi	A film that explores a shocking reality amongst women of a particular community. It gives us a rare view into a world of hidebound sexual tradition.
2012 (60th)	Andrea Iannetta	Director	Allah Is Great	• English  • Hindi  • Danish	A subtly humorous look at life and the vagaries of fate.
2012 (60th)	Sanjay Jangid	Animator	Raah	–	For exploring an innovative style of animation and the creation of arresting images.
2013 (61st)	Girish Kasaravalli	Director	Ananthamurthy – Not A Biography...But A Hypothesis	English	For the clarity and the insight with which it looks at the work of Ananthamurthy, one of the finest Indian writers, whose work carries exceptional social significance.
2013 (61st)	• Satyanshu Singh  • Devanshu Singh	Director	Tamaash	English	For presenting a heartwarming story of friendship in a lucid and engaging style and for using elements of the magical and the macabre to create a modern day fable of Kashmir.
2013 (61st)	Shweta Ghosh	Director	Accsex	• English  • Hindi	For vigorously taking up the challenge of exploring sexuality in women perceived to be differently abled.
2013 (61st)	• Kavita Bahl  • Nandan Saxena	Director	Candles In The Wind	• Punjabi  • Hindi	For its chilling depiction of the ground realities in the bread basket of India. The tone and texture of the film contradict the prevalent narrative of it being the best place to live and work.
2013 (61st)	Madonne M Ashwin	Director	Dharmam	Tamil	For its searing critique of middle class hypocrisy and a corrupt society as seen through the eyes of an impressionable child.
2013 (61st)	• Rajdeep Paul  • Sarmistha Maiti	Director	At the Cross Roads : Nondon Bagchi Life and Living	• English  • Bengali	For an entertaining biography of a wonderfully engaging personality, with shades of a near chaotic life style, set in a period known for its path-breaking music.

External links

• Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
• National Film Awards Archives