# National Film Award – Special Mention (non-feature film)

The National Film Award – Special Mention 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. The recipients of Special Mention are awarded with certificate of merit.
The award was instituted in 1978, at 26th National Film Awards and awarded annually for the short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages.

## Winners

Award includes only certificate of merit for the recipients of Special Mention. This award considers all the aspects of film making than individual area. Following are the award winners over the years:
List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), awarded as, film(s) and language(s) :
| Year | Recipient(s) | Awarded as | Film(s) | Language(s) |
| 1978 (26th) | Loksen Lavnani for Films Division | Director | The Burning Stone | English |
| 1979 (27th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1980 (28th) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | • Producer • Director | The Chola Heritage | English |
| 1980 (28th) | Films Division | Producer | Pampa | English |
| 1980 (28th) | P. C. Sharma | Director | Pampa | English |
| 1981 (29th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1982 (30th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1983 (31st) | National Institute of Design | Producer | Jalshakti | Hindi |
| 1983 (31st) | I. S. Mathur | Director | Jalshakti | Hindi |
| 1983 (31st) | Kerala State Film Development Corporation | Producer | Thalam | Malayalam |
| 1983 (31st) | Joy Mathew | Director | Thalam | Malayalam |
| 1983 (31st) | National Institute of Design | Producer | Energy-Merry-Go-Round | English |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Biographical Film | Veer Savarkar | Marathi |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Scientific Film | Handling Fuel Oils Fission Power 306 Rejuvenation | English |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Exploration/Adventure Film | Against Current Exploration Antartica | English |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film | Cobra: The Snake God | English |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film | Perumkaliattam | Malayalam |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film | Leather Puppetry of Karnataka | English |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film | Nishan | Hindi |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Exploration/Adventure Film | Against Current Exploration Antartica | English |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Historical Reconstruction Film | Tambaccucha Samna | Marathi |
| 1983 (31st) | – | Best Historical Reconstruction Film | Bidaai | Hindi |
| 1984 (32nd) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1985 (33rd) | FTII | Producer | Prisoners of Circumstances | Telugu |
| 1985 (33rd) | Ramesh Handoo | Director | Prisoners of Circumstances | Telugu |
| 1985 (33rd) | R. K. Gupta | Producer | Anukaran | Telugu |
| 1985 (33rd) | Gul Bahar Singh | Director | Anukaran | Telugu |
| 1986 (34th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1987 (35th) | Ashok Gunjal | Cameraman | The Kingdom of God | English |
| 1988 (36th) | N. H. Prasad | Director | Dispossession | English |
| 1989 (37th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1990 (38th) | Raj Gopal Rao | Director | Technique of Seed Production in Wheat and Paddy | English |
| 1990 (38th) | Siddharth Kak | Director | Cactus and Roses | English |
| 1990 (38th) | Dilip Ghose | Director | Aadhi Haqueeqat Aadha Fasana | Hindi |
| 1990 (38th) | Naresh Saxena | Director | Sambandh | Hindi |
| 1991 (39th) | Debal Basu | Director | Living on the Junk | English |
| 1992 (40th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1993 (41st) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1994 (42nd) | Arun Kumar Roy | • Director • Screenwriter | Of Tagore and Cinema | English |
| 1994 (42nd) | Gautam Haldar | Director | The Story of Integration | English |
| 1994 (42nd) | Kaviyoor Sivaprasad | • Director • Screenwriter • Editor | Ormaynde Theerangalil | Malayalam |
| 1995 (43rd) | Arvind Singh | Director | Ajit | Hindi |
| 1995 (43rd) | Rashmi Film Society | Producer | Ithihasathile Khasak | • English • Malayalam |
| 1995 (43rd) | Biswadeb Dasgupta | • Producer • Director | Majhi | Bengali |
| 1996 (44th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1997 (45th) | Gul Bahar Singh | Director | Gotipua | English |
| 1998 (46th) | Unni Vijayan | Director | Jee Karta Tha | Hindi |
| 1999 (47th) | Vinod Subramanian | Director | Fire | • English • Hindi |
| 2000 (48th) | Amal Neerod C. R. | Cameraman | Meena Jha | Hindi |
| 2000 (48th) | Haimanti Banerjee | Director | Balgandharv | Marathi |
| 2001 (49th) | A. R. Tripathi | Producer | Kalahandi | • Oriya • English |
| 2001 (49th) | Sonali Kulkarni | Actress | Chaitra | Marathi |
| 2002 (50th) | Raja Mitra | Director | Kalighat Paintings And Drawings | English |
| 2003 (51st) | Shilpi Dasgupta | Director | Mangali: An Exorcision | – |
| 2003 (51st) | Aseem Bose | Cameraman | Water | English |
| 2004 (52nd) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2005 (53rd) | Vibhu Puri | Director | Chabiwali Pocket Watch | Hindi |
| 2005 (53rd) | Bidyut Kotoky | Director | Bhraimoman Theatre | Assamese |
| 2006 (54th) | Kuldip Sinha | Producer | Special Children | English |
| 2006 (54th) | Suresh Menon | Director | Special Children | English |
| 2007 (55th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2008 (56th) | Aniket Rumade | Child actor | Vitthal | Marathi |
| 2009 (57th) | Nikita Bhagat | Cinematographer | Vilay | – |
| 2010 (58th) | Shiny Jacob Benjamin | Director | Ottayal (One Woman Alone) | Malayalam |
| 2010 (58th) | Ronel Haobam | Director | The Zeliangrongs | • Manipuri • English |
| 2010 (58th) | Suraj Pawar | Child actor | Pistulya | • Marathi • Telugu |
| 2011 (59th) | Spandan Banerjee | Director | You Don’t Belong | • Bengali • English |
| 2011 (59th) | Renu Savant | Director | Airawat | • Marathi • Hindi |
| 2012 (60th) | Priya Goswami | Director | Pinch of Skin | • English • Hindi |
| 2012 (60th) | Andrea Iannetta | Director | Allah Is Great | • English • Hindi • Danish |
| 2012 (60th) | Sanjay Jangid | Animator | Raah | – |
| 2013 (61st) | Shweta Ghosh | Director | Accsex | • English • Hindi |
| 2013 (61st) | Kavita Bahl | Director | Candles in the Wind | • Punjabi • Hindi |
| 2013 (61st) | Nandan Saxena | Director | Candles in the Wind | • Punjabi • Hindi |
| 2013 (61st) | Madonne Ashwin | Director | Dharmam | Tamil |
| 2013 (61st) | Rajdeep Paul | Director | At the Cross Roads : Nondon Bagchi Life and Living | • English • Bengali |
| 2013 (61st) | Sarmistha Maiti | Director | At the Cross Roads : Nondon Bagchi Life and Living | • English • Bengali |
| 2014 (62nd) | Mrinal Dev | Director | Gunjaa | English |
| 2014 (62nd) | Manoj Kumar Nitharwal | Director | Seek and Hide | English |
| 2014 (62nd) | Ruchir Arun | Director | 5 O'Clock Accident | English |
| 2015 (63rd) | Arun Shankar | Director | The Chameleon | English |
| 2015 (63rd) | Neelan | Director | Amma | Malayalam |
| 2015 (63rd) | Varun Tandon | Director | Syaahi | Hindi |
| 2016 (64th) | Soumya Sadanandan | Director | Chembai: Descoperire A Mea Unei Legende | |
| 2016 (64th) | Ramen Borah | Director | Sikar Aru Sitkar | |
| 2016 (64th) | Sibanu Borah | Director | Sikar Aru Sitkar | |
| 2016 (64th) | Amitabh Parashar | Director | The Eyes of Darkness | |
| 2017 (65th) | Jayaraj | Director | Rebirth | |
| 2017 (65th) | Rukshana Tabassum | Director | Cake Story | |
| 2017 (65th) | Swapnil Vasant Kapure | Director | Afternoon | |
| 2018 (66th) | Sagar Puranik | Director | Mahaan Hutatma | Kannada |
| 2018 (66th) | Ramana Dumpala | Director | Glow Worm in a Jungle | English |
| 2018 (66th) | Sameer and Kishore Sadhwani | Director | Laddoo | Hindi |
| 2019 (67th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2020 (68th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2021 (69th) | Ganesh Babu | Director | Karuvarai | Tamil |
| 2021 (69th) | Srikanth Deva | Music director | Karuvarai | Tamil |
| 2022 (70th) | Aimee Baruah | • Producer • Director | Birubala: Witch to Padmashri | Assamese |
| 2022 (70th) | Partha Sarathi Mahanta | Director | Hargila – The Greater Adjutant Stork | Assamese |
| 2022 (70th) | PI Entertainment | Producer | Hargila – The Greater Adjutant Stork | Assamese |