NEW DELHI: Entries have been invited by the Directorate of Film Festivals for the National Awards for features and non-feature films made in 2011.
Only Indian films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011 would be eligible for the 59th National Film Awards.
Entries have also been invited for the best book on cinema and for the best film journalist/critic, published during the calendar year 2011.
The last date for entries is 17 January 2011. All films must have English sub-titles.
The regulations are clear that any person found influencing the jury in any way would be disqualified from entering films for three years.
There will be a two-tier system of Regional Jury and Central Jury for making selection for the various categories of awards as specified. The Central jury and five Regional Juries will hold their meetings in Delhi,
The five regional juries will be:
- North: One Panel for films in Hindi, Punjabi, Dogri, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Urdu, English and Central Indian Languages.
- West: One Panel for films in Marathi, Gujarati and Konkani
- South I: One Panel for films in Tamil and Malayalam.
- South II: One Panel for films in Kannada, Telugu and Tulu.
- East: One Panel for films in Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Manipuri and dialects spoken in North East.
Each Regional Panel would comprise a chairperson and one member (both of whom would be selected from outside the region) and three other members from within the region.
The Central Jury will comprise a chairperson and 10 members and the chairpersons of Regional Juries would serve on the Central Jury. The book jury will have three members.
Awards in features will be given in 29 categories, apart from the best film in a regional language recognized under the Constitution or English. There will be 22 categories in non-features.
