| 3rd National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 1955 |
| Awarded by | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting |
| Presented by | Jawaharlal Nehru (Prime Minister of India) |
| Presented on | September 1956 (1956-09) |
| Site | Vigyan Bhavan,New Delhi |
| Official website | dff.nic.in |
| Highlights | |
| Best Feature Film | Pather Panchali |
| Most awards | • Pather Panchali • Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (2) |
The3rdNational Film Awards, then known asState Awards for Films, presented byMinistry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best ofIndian Cinema released in the year 1955.[1] Ceremony took place atVigyan Bhavan,New Delhi in September 1956 and awards were given byPrime Minister of India,Jawaharlal Nehru.
Three different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based inBombay,Calcutta andMadras. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 3rd National Film Awards, central committee was headed byC. D. Deshmukh.[1]
Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.
President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known asNational Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today'sNational Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's gold medal is now given asNational Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 3rd National Film Awards,Pather Panchali, aBengali film by a debutant directorSatyajit Ray won thePresident's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:[1]
For 3rd National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film | Pather Panchali | Bengali | Government of West Bengal | Satyajit Ray |
| All India Certificate of Merit | Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje | Hindi | Rajkamal Kalamandir | V. Shantaram |
| Shirdi Che Sai Baba | Marathi | Nandadeep chitra | Kumarsen Samarth | |
With 3rd National Film Awards, new award category was introduced for the feature films made inAssamese language. This newly introduced category includesPresident's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Assamese and Certificate of Merit for second and third best film, although former was not given as no film was found suitable for the award.[1]
The awards were given to the best films made in theregional languages of India. For 3rd National Film Awards, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film was not given inAssamese,Bengali,Hindi,Kannada andTamil language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language.[1]
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:[1]
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film | Magic of Mountains | English | Films Division | Mushir Ahmed |
| Certificate of Merit | Wonder of Work | English | Films Division | |
| Education for Life | English | Ama Ltd. | ||
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1]