| National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English | |
|---|---|
| National award for contributions to Indian Cinema | |
| Sponsored by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Formerly called | President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in English (1964) |
| Reward(s) |
|
| First awarded | 1964 |
| Last awarded | 2013 |
| Highlights | |
| Total awarded | 20 |
| First winner | The Avalanche |
| Last winner | The Coffin Maker |
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English is one of the National Film Awards of India presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).
The National Film Awards, established in 1954, are the most prominent film awards in India that merit the best of the Indian cinema. The ceremony also presents awards for films in various regional languages.
Awards for films in seven regional language (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) started from 2nd National Film Awards which were presented on 21 December 1955. Three awards of "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film", "Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film" and "Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film" were instituted. The later two certificate awards were discontinued from 15th National Film Awards (1967).
Produced and directed by Serbjeet Singh, the 1964 film The Avalanche was honoured with the first president's silver medal for Best Feature Film in English. After 1964, awards were discontinued for certain period and resumed for feature films produced in 1981 at 29th National Film Awards.