The 56th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India to celebrate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2008. Three committees were instituted in order to judge the various entries for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections, headed by the National award-winning director, Shaji N. Karun, for feature films and Aruna Raje Patil for non-feature films and Sunil Gangopadhyay for best writing on cinema. Each chairperson announced the award on 23 January 2010 for their respective sections and award ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi with President of India, Pratibha Patil giving away the awards on 20 March 2010.

Awards

Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 56th National Film Awards, a Bengali film, Antaheen won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film; whereas a Marathi film, Jogwa won the maximum number of awards (5). The following awards were given in each category:

Juries

A committee headed by Shaji N. Karun was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. The jury members were:

All India Award

The following awards were given:

Golden Lotus Award

Official name: Swarna Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.

Silver Lotus Award

Official name: Rajat Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.

Regional Awards

The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India. Best Feature Film in Each of the Languages Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution

Non-feature films

Short films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.

Juries

A committee headed by Aruna Raje Patil was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. The jury members were:

Golden Lotus Award

Official name: Swarna Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.

Silver Lotus Award

Official name: Rajat Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.

Best Writing on Cinema

The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.

Juries

A committee headed by Sunil Gangopadhyay was appointed to evaluate the writing on Indian cinema. The jury members were:

Golden Lotus Award

Official name: Swarna Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)' and cash prize.

Special mention

All the award winners are awarded with Certificate of Merit.

Awards not given

The following awards were not given as no film was found to be suitable: