The 6th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1958. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 28 April 1959 and awards were given by then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Awards
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 as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as National 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
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 6th National Film Awards, in this category, two Bengali films Sagar Sangamey and Jalsaghar along with a Kannada film School Master won maximum number of awards (two), with Sagar Sangamey also winning the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:
All India Award
Following were the awards given in each category:
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizePresident's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature FilmSagar SangameyBengaliProducer: De Luxe Film DistributorsGold Medal and 20,000Director: Debaki Bose5,000All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmJalsagharBengaliProducer: Satyajit RayCertificate of Merit and 10,000Director: Satyajit Ray2,500All India Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature filmSchool MasterKannadaProducer: B. R. PanthuluCertificate of Merit onlyDirector: B. R. PanthuluAll India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's FilmVirsa and the Magic DollEnglishProducer: Little Cinema Pvt Ltd.Certificate of Merit onlyDirector: Santi P. Chowdhury
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 6th National Film Awards, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language.
AwardFilmAwardee(s) Producer DirectorFeature Films in AssamesePresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmRonga PoliceKanak Ch. SharmaNip BaruaFeature Films in BengaliPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in BengaliSagar SangameyDe Luxe Film Distributors Ltd.Debaki BoseCertificate of MeritJalsagharSatyajit RaySatyajit RayDaak HarkaraAgragami ProductionsAgragamiFeature Films in HindiPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmMadhumatiBimal RoyBimal RoyCertificate of MeritLajwantiMohan SegalNarendra SuriKarigarVasant JoglekarVasant JoglekarFeature Films in KannadaPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmSchool MasterB. R. PanthaluB. R. PanthuluFeature Films in MalayalamCertificate of MeritNairu Pidicha PulivaluT. E. VasudevanP. BhaskaranRandidangazhiNeela ProductionsP. SubramaniamFeature Films in MarathiCertificate of MeritDhakti JaooSarvashri Wamanrao KulkarniAnant ManeVishnupant ChavanFeature Films in TamilCertificate of MeritThanga PadhumaiJupitor Pictures Pvt Ltd.A. S. A. SamyAnnaiyin AanaiA. M. M. IsmayilC. H. Narayana MoorthyFeature Films in TeluguPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmPelli Naati PramanaluJayanthi Pictures Pvt Ltd.K. V. ReddyCertificate of MeritMangalya BalamAnnapoorna PicturesAdurthi Subba Rao
Non-Feature films
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:
Documentaries
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizePresident's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary FilmRadha KrishnaEnglishProducer: Films DivisionGold Medal and 4,000Director: J. S. Bhownagary1,000All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Documentary FilmThe Story of Dr. KarveEnglishProducer: Films DivisionCertificate of Merit and 2,000Director: Neil Gokhale500Director: Ram GabaleAll India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Documentary FilmCall of the MountainsHindiProducer: Films DivisionDirector: A. K. ChaudhuriCertificate of Merit only
Awards not given
Following awards were not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:
Prime Minister's Gold Medal for the Best Children's Film President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Marathi President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Malayalam President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Tamil
References
External links National Film Awards Archives Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India