| 7th National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 1959 |
| Awarded by | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting |
| Presented by | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Vice President of India) |
| Presented on | 1 May 1960 (1960-05-01) |
| Site | Vigyan Bhavan,New Delhi |
| Official website | dff.nic.in |
| Best Feature Film | Apur Sansar |
The7thNational 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 1959.[1][2] Ceremony took place atVigyan Bhavan,New Delhi on 1 May 1960 and awards were given by thenVice-President of India, Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
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 the 7th National Film Awards, aBengali filmApur Sansar won thePresident's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:[1][2]
For 7th National Film awards, none of the films were awarded from Documentary and Children's Films category as no film was found to be suitable, instead only Certificate of Merit was given. Following were the awards given in each category:[1][2]
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film | Apur Sansar | Bengali | Producer: Satyajit Ray Pvt Ltd. | Gold Medal and₹20,000 |
| Director:Satyajit Ray | ₹5,000 | |||
| All India Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film | Heera Moti | Hindi | Producer: Pravin Desai | Certificate of Merit and₹10,000 |
| Director: Krishnan Chopra | ₹2,500 | |||
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film | Sujata | Hindi | Producer:Bimal Roy | Certificate of Merit only |
| Director: Bimal Roy | ||||
| All India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's Film | Banyan Deer | English | Producer: Films Division | Certificate of Merit only |
| Director: Ahmed Lateef | ||||
| Director: Shanti Verma | ||||
| Director: G. G. Saraiya |
The awards were given to the best films made in theregional languages of India. For 7th National Film Awards, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given inBengali,Kannada andMalayalam language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language.[1][2]
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:[1][2]
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Best Documentary Film | Kathakali | English | Producer:Films Division | Certificate of Merit and₹2,000 |
| Director: Mohan Wadhwani | ₹500 | |||
| Mayurakshi Dam | Hindi | Producer: Films Division | Certificate of Merit only | |
| Director: N. K. Issar |
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1][2]