| Number: | 7 |
| Award: | National Film Awards |
| Awarded For: | Best of Indian cinema in 1959 |
| Award Org: | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting |
| Presenting Org: | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Site: | Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi |
| Website: | dff.nic.in |
| Best Feature: | Apur Sansar |
| Last: | 6th |
| Next: | 8th |
The 7th 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 1959.[1] [2] Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 1 May 1960 and awards were given by then Vice-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 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 were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 7th National Film Awards, a Bengali film Apur Sansar won the President'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 | 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 the regional languages of India. For 7th National Film Awards, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam 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]