National Film Award for Best Short Fiction Film (1987–2021)
Reward(s)
Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus)
₹2,00,000
First awarded
1987
Last awarded
2022
Most recent winner
Xunyota
Highlights
Total awarded
32
First winner
The Eight Column Affair
The National Film Award for Best Short Film (upto 30 mins) is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for non-feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).
The award was instituted in 1987, at 35th National Film Awards and awarded annually for the short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages. Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name was changed to "Best Short Film (upto 30 mins)".[1]
Awards
Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus Award) and cash prize. Cash prize amount varied over the period. Following table illustrates the cash prize amount over the years:
Year (Period)
Cash Prize
1987–2005
Producer and Director: Rajat Kamal and ₹10,000 (US$120) Each
2006–2021
Producer and Director: Rajat Kamal and ₹50,000 (US$600) Each
2022–present
Producer and Director: Rajat Kamal and ₹2 lakh (US$2,400) Each
Winners
Following are the award winners over the years:
Indicates a joint award for that year
List of films, showing the year, language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation
For its innovative use of cinematic techniques to put together a surrealistic collage of visual that add up to a delightfully brisk narrative, full of whimsical humour.
For telling the story of a spirited young tribal girl who comes into her own in the alien environment of an urban school, while retaining the innocence and sensitivity bred of living close to nature; and for capturing the freshness and spontaneity of its tribal actors in real life locations with enduring simplicity.
For being a forceful statement of the personal rights of a woman through the emotional impact of one incident in which she rises against a social taboo.
For taking a total holiday from logic and inhibitions and creating a most entertaining and humorous fantasy which, with all its improbabilities, will succeed in casting a spell on its audiences.
For its multi-layered treatment of a story that sketches the lives of two young people (sibling) caught in the web of their past and yet coping for survival.
For its sensitive and nuanced story about a writer and the sour taste of beauty. The film is notable for its technical excellence and the excellent synergy created by the young director Sandip Chattopadhyay and his colleagues from the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Calcutta. This award applauds them all.
For a popular tale relating to the great 14th century reformer Shankara Deva who stood against caste inequality. The tale narrates an allegory wherein Sati Radhika a fisherwoman perform a miraculous feat, which others could not, thus bringing out the noble concept of social equality.
For creatively portraying a young boy's dilemma as he comes face to face with the temptations of life. The film evocatively explores the erotic under‐currents in this coming of age tale.
For weaving a complex contemporary form of expression, through fragmented stories of a few sparsely connected lives in transit, over an omnipresent dark urban reality of economic disparity, alienation, and bad faith.
With energy and vigour, the documentary records very interesting images of a group of young students, who are trying to relate, with ideology of freedom and the stifling authoritarian reality. In the process, the life is entangled with intrigues and doubts.
Rigorously crafted, the film explores an evolving relationship between two young people with rare maturity and restraint. Even while dealing with the very nebulous and the almost ephemeral, the film is meticulous in its expressions.
For the deftly crafted story of a young man who transforms a rundown warehouse into an Aladdin's Cave through the fun and frolic of the moving image where magic, mystery and adventure become possible.
For its empathetic portrayal of its pivotal character’s sexual orientation, and the question of freedom around it. Shot in monochrome, the film adds to the antiquity for the era it is set in.
Cinematic excellence comes to life in this intimate story where the filmmaker shows that silence can also be used as a powerful language of expression.
'Custody' is a story that is set over a few hours, but has infinite ramifications. At a new year's eve celebration at home, a group of old friends spiral into a nerve wracking whodunit when the baby of the host chokes in a fire. Struggling to save their bond of years while the baby's life hangs in the balance, the film questions the subjective barometer of morality.