3rd National Film Awards Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years. Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 3rd National Film Awards, "Pather Panchali", a Bengali film by a debutant director Satyajit Ray won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given: For 3rd National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable. With 3rd National Film Awards, new award category was introduced for the feature films made
The Apu Trilogy (including Best Human Document at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival), followed by eleven international prizes for "Aparajito" (including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival) and numerous other awards for "Apur Sansar" (including the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival). When Ray made "Pather Panchali", he worked with a cast and crew most of whom had never been previously involved in film. Ray himself at the time of directing "Pather Panchali" had primarily worked in the advertising industry, although he had served as assistant director on Jean Renoir's 1951 film "The River". From this foundation, Ray went on