# National Film Award for Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film

The National Film Award for Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film was 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 was one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).
The award was instituted in 1984, at 32nd National Film Awards and awarded annually for films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages. At the 70th National Film Awards, the award is discontinued and clubbed with National Film Award for Best Promotional Film, National Film Award for Best Scientific Film, National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film, National Film Award for Best Exploration/Adventure Film, National Film Award for Best Investigative Film, National Film Award for Best Agriculture Film, National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues and National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Environment/Conservation/Preservation Film, and two new categories were created; Best Documentary and Best Non Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values.

## Winners

Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus) and cash prize. 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) and director(s) :
| Year | Film(s) | Language(s) | Producer(s) | Director(s) |
| 1984 (32nd) | Bada Media | Hindi | – | Manohar S. Varpe |
| 1985 (33rd) | The Whispering Wind | English | – | Biplab Roy Choudhury |
| 1986 (34th) | The Land Where Wind Blows Free | English | Director of Cultural Affairs, Assam | Chandra Narayan Barua |
| 1987 (35th) | Raaste Band Hain Sab | Hindi | Manjiri Dingwaney, Rural Labour Cell | Manjiri Dutta |
| 1988 (36th) | Maa Ooru | Telugu | B. Ramachandra Rao | B. Narsing Rao |
| 1989 (37th) | Baiga | Hindi | Madhya Pradesh Madhyam | Rajendra Janglay |
| 1990 (38th) | Lolaab | English | Hillman Film Pvt. Ltd | Mohi-Ud-Din Mirza |
| 1991 (39th) | The Valiant Ones | English | A. K. Balakrishnan | A. K. Balakrishnan |
| 1992 (40th) | Wangala: A Garo Festival | English | Bappa Ray | Bappa Ray |
| 1993 (41st) | Ladakh: Life Along the Indus | English | Bappa Ray | Bappa Ray |
| 1994 (42nd) | The Trapped | English | K. Jayachandran | O. K. Johnny |
| 1995 (43rd) | Yelhou Jagoi | Meitei | Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts | Aribam Syam Sharma |
| 1996 (44th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1997 (45th) | In the Land of Lepchas | English | Government of West Bengal | • Anjan Bose • Manas Kamal Chowdhari |
| 1998 (46th) | Kherwal Parab | Santali | Sankar Rakshit | Sankar Rakshit |
| 1999 (47th) | Koihatir Dhulia | Assamese | Satyabrat Kalita | Hemanta Das |
| 1999 (47th) | Surabhi | Telugu | K. Jaydev | K. N. T. Sastry |
| 2000 (48th) | Scribbles on Akka | Kannada | Flavia Agnes | Madhusree Dutta |
| 2001 (49th) | The Monpas of Arunachal Pradesh | English | Films Division | Aribam Syam Sharma |
| 2002 (50th) | The Morung: Silent Witness of the Brave Wancho | English | Anthropological Survey of India | Bappa Ray |
| 2003 (51st) | Aur Ghumantu Thhahar Gaye | Hindi | Leo Arts Communication | Meenakshi Vinay Rai |
| 2004 (52nd) | The Legend of Fat Mama | English | Rafeeq Ellias | Rafeeq Ellias |
| 2005 (53rd) | Spirit of the Graceful Lineage | English | Bibi Devi Barbarooah | Prerana Barbarooah |
| 2006 (54th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2007 (55th) | Tai Phakey | English | Priyam Chaliha | Mridul Gupta |
| 2008 (56th) | Boliya Pitaier Sohoki Sootal | Assamese | • Altaf Mazid • Zabeen Ahmed • Susanta Roy | Altaf Mazid |
| 2009 (57th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2010 (58th) | Songs of Mashangva | • Tangkhul • Meitei • English | Oinam Doren | Oinam Doren |
| 2011 (59th) | Bom | • Hindi • English | Anirban Datta | Amlan Datta |
| 2012 (60th) | Char... The No-Man's Island | Bengali | Sourav Sarangi | Sourav Sarangi |
| 2013 (61st) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2014 (62nd) | Qissa–e–Parsi : The Parsi Story | English | Public Service Broadcasting Trust | • Divya Cowasji • Shilpi Gulati |
| 2015 (63rd) | Aoleang | English | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies | Ranajit Ray |
| 2016 (64th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2017 (65th) | Name, Place, Animal, Thing | | Nithin R. | Nithin R. |
| 2017 (65th) | Slave Genesis | | Aneez K. M. | Aneez K. M. |
| 2018 (66th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2019 (67th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2020 (68th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2021 (69th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |