6th National Film Awards
The 6th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1958. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 28 April 1959 and awards were given by then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 6th National Film Awards, in this category, two Bengali films Sagar Sangamey and Jalsaghar along with a Kannada film School Master won maximum number of awards, with Sagar Sangamey also winning the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:All India Award
Following were the awards given in each category:| Award | Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film | Sagar Sangamey | Bengali | Producer: De Luxe Film Distributors | Gold Medal and 20,000 |
| President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film | Sagar Sangamey | Bengali | Director: Debaki Bose | 5,000 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film | Jalsaghar | Bengali | Producer: Satyajit Ray | Certificate of Merit and 10,000 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film | Jalsaghar | Bengali | Director: Satyajit Ray | 2,500 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature film | School Master | Kannada | Producer: B. R. Panthulu | Certificate of Merit only |
| All India Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature film | School Master | Kannada | Director: B. R. Panthulu | Certificate of Merit only |
| All India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's Film | Virsa and the Magic Doll | English | Producer: Little Cinema Pvt Ltd. | Certificate of Merit only |
| All India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's Film | Virsa and the Magic Doll | English | Director: Santi P. Chowdhury | Certificate of Merit only |
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 6th National Film Awards, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language.Non-Feature films
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:Documentaries
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film | Radha Krishna | English | Producer: Films Division | Gold Medal and 4,000 |
| President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film | Radha Krishna | English | Director: J. S. Bhownagary | 1,000 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Documentary Film | The Story of Dr. Karve | English | Producer: Films Division | Certificate of Merit and 2,000 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Documentary Film | The Story of Dr. Karve | English | Director: Neil Gokhale | 500 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Documentary Film | The Story of Dr. Karve | English | Director: Ram Gabale | 500 |
| All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Documentary Film | Call of the Mountains | Hindi | Producer: Films Division Director: A. K. Chaudhuri | Certificate of Merit only |