| National Film Award for Best Investigative Film | |
|---|---|
| award for contributions to short film | |
| Sponsored by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Reward(s) |
|
| First awarded | 1990 |
| Last awarded | 2017 |
| Most recent winner | 1984, When the Sun Didn't Rise |
| Highlights | |
| Total awarded | 25 |
| First winner | Una Mitran Di Yaad Pyaari (In Memory of Friends) |
The National Film Award for Best Investigative 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).
The award was instituted in 1990, at 38th National Film Awards and awarded annually for short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages.
Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus) and cash prize. Following are the award winners over the years:
| List of films, showing the year, language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film(s) | Language(s) | Producer(s) | Director(s) | Citation | Refs. |
| 1990 (38th) | Una Mitran Di Yaad Pyaari (In Memory of Friends) | •English • Hindi • Punjabi | Anand Patwardhan | Anand Patwardhan | For the ardent pursuit of truth in an explosive contemporary atmosphere, with objectivity, courage and lucidity. | [1] |
| 1991 (39th) | Bhagirathi Ki Pukaar | Hindi | Anwar Jamal | Anwar Jamal | For the in-depth analysis of the impact of proposed Tehri Dam on the environment and the people affected by it. | [2] |
| 1992 (40th) | Ram ke Naam | Hindi | Anand Patwardhan | Anand Patwardhan | For a skilfully made film on a major problem of the times; the communal divide and rise of militant Hindutva groups that led to demolition of Babri Mosque | [3] |
| 1993 (41st) | Benefit For Whom at Whose Cost? | English | Dinesh Lakhanpal | Dinesh Lakhanpal | For a well researched and detailed investigation of the fears and tribulations of the people living under the looming shadow of a long-delayed multipurpose hydel project. | [4] |
| 1994 (42nd) | Father, Son and Holy War (Part I – Trial by Fire, Part II – Hero Pharmacy) | •Hindi •English | Anand Patwardhan | Anand Patwardhan | For probing beyond the objective, in its pursuit of insights, allowing even the unexpected to suggest the oblique. | [5] |
| 1995 (43rd) | Limit to Freedom | English | Deepak Roy | Deepak Roy | For depicting the miserable plight of women prisoners and their bleak protests for any future. | [6] |
| 1996 (44th) | N. M. No. 309 Bhiwandi Tragedy | English | Yash Chowdhary | V. Packiri Swamy | For the exploration of the issue of health hazards faced by migrant industrial workers. | [7] |
| 1997 (45th) | Thirst | Hindi | Y. N. Engineer for Films Division | Swadesh Pathak for Films Division | For a hard hitting indictment of the realities of water resource mismanagement in rural India. | [8] |
| 1998 (46th) | Saga of Darkness | Bengali | Creative Image | Gautam Sen | For its courageous expose of an inhuman practice and state apathy. | [9] |
| 1999 (47th) | No Award | [10] | ||||
| 2000 (48th) | Wearing the face | English | Bankim for Films Division | Joshy Joseph for Films Division | For insight-fully and sensitively probing the masked lives of college students of Manipur, who are compelled by socio-political circumstances to pull rickshaws for their livelihood. | [11] |
| 2001 (49th) | Kalahandi | • Oriya •English | Soudamini Mishra | Gautam Ghose | For its courageous expose of endemic poverty in the backward region of Orissa and the state's apathy to it. | [12] |
| 2002 (50th) | No Award | [13] | ||||
| 2003 (51st) | A Silent Killer | English | Dhananjoy Mondal | Dhananjoy Mondal | The film is a forceful statement on the disastrous consequences of millions of people drinking water contaminated with "arsenic". In a simple but effective manner, the filmmaker explores and then brings out the enormity of the problem. | [14] |
| 2004 (52nd) | Harvest of Hunger | •English •Oriya | Action Aid India | Rupashree Nanda | For portraying the apathy and the hardships of drought effected villagers from Bolangir District, and their struggle to survive under an atmosphere of compulsive exploitation in excellent investigative and poignant style. | [15] |
| 2005 (53rd) | The Whistle Blowers | English | Rajiv Mehrotra | Umesh Aggarwal | For a small film with a big impact! In the best traditions of Investigative reportage, the film highlights the burning issue of hazards to health and pollution norms. | [16] |
| 2006 (54th) | Mere Desh Ki Dharti | Hindi | Rajiv Mehrotra | Sumit Khanna | For exploring in depth the problem of falling agro-production and poisoning of the food chain due to use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. | [17] |
| 2007 (55th) | The Journalist and a Jihadi | English | Romesh Sharma | • Romesh Sharma •Ahmad Jamal | For trying to uncover the sequence of events that led to the gruesome murder of the Wall-street journalist, Daniel Pearl. This film is very well researched and the investigation provides an insight into the working of a militant organisation. | [18] |
| 2008 (56th) | Distant Rumblings | English | Ms. Rongsenkala | Bani Prakash Das | For evoking painful memories of World War II as experienced by people of North East India, after the Japanese invasion. Through war wreckages found in the jungles and first person accounts, the film stitches together a moving story of affected families long forgotten. | [19] |
| 2009 (57th) | No Award | [20] | ||||
| 2010 (58th) | A Pestering Journey | • Malayalam •Punjabi •Hindi •English • Tulu | Ranjini Krishnan | K. R. Manoj | For the pet detective in a reverse act, an emotive documentary exposing not only stories of cruel impact of pest control on human health but also arrests out attention to a more fundamental question – who is a pest ?. | [21] |
| 2011 (59th) | Cotton for My Shroud | English | Kavita Bahl | •Nandan Saxena •Kavita Bahl | For exposing the growing apathy of the state, the tightening grip of multinationals and the web created by middlemen and moneylenders towards small cotton growing farmers in Vidarbha. The film successfully investigates the vicious trap of debts, deceptions and suicides. | [22] |
| 2012 (60th) | Inshallah, Kashmir | English | Ashvin Kumar | Ashvin Kumar | For unflinchingly and boldly stepping into unearthing the truth about Kashmir. A passionate inquiry connecting with the people, discovering what is called 'Kashmiriyat' and at the same time exposing the role the state, police and army have played in alienating them from India. | [23] |
| 2013 (61st) | Katiyabaaz | •Hindi • Urdu •English | Globalistan Films Pvt. Ltd. | •Deepti Kakkar •Fahad Mustafa | For its cutting edge investigation into the life of a typical Indian city, the film uses strong characters, juxtapositions and humour to create a visual arch that delineates the haves and have-nots of power. | [24] |
| 2014 (62nd) | Phum Shang | Films Division | Haobam Paban Kumar | For its quiet and fair-hearted investigation of the fishermen communities and their floating dwellings on Loktak Lake, Manipur, even as government agencies and conservationists struggle to save the lake. | [25] | |
| 2015 (63rd) | Tezpur 1962 | English | Films Division | Samujjal Kashyap | Lost in the mist of time – an attempt to trace the untold... | [26] |
| 2016 (64th) | Placebo | English | Archana Fadke | Abhay Kumar | An important and intelligently crafted film that investigates the malaise plaguing one of India's premiere educational institutions, showing us a mirror of our times. | [27] |
| 2017 (65th) | 1984, When the Sun Didn't Rise | Teenaa Kaur Pasricha | Teenaa Kaur Pasricha | A determined effort of a filmmaker to come to terms with a disturbing event in history. | ||
| 2018 (66th) | Amoli | Culture Machine Media Pvt. Ltd. | • Jasmine Kaur Roy • Avinash Roy | For its gritty examination of why and how young girls are coerced into commercial sex work, destroying their lives and minds, and for depicting their courage to survive. | ||
The National Film Award for Best Costume Design 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 feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Special Effects 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 feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Cinematography 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Choreography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues is one of the category in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and is awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director 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 feature films and awarded with Silver Lotus.
The National Film Award for Best Anthropological/Ethnographic 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 feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Biographical 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Scientific 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Promotional 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Exploration/Adventure 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Short Fiction 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film on Family Welfare 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 and awarded with 'Rajat Kamal'.
The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Audiography 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Editing 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 and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction 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 short films and awarded with Rajat Kamal.
The National Film Award – Special Jury Award 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.
The National Film Award for Best Make-up Artist 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 feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal.