At the 59th National Awards announcement ceremony, director Girish Kasaravalli's Kurmavatara was announced as the Best Kannada Film. It is the third time that Girish has bagged the National Award. He earlier won the award for Gulabi Talkies and Kanasemba Kudureyaneri.

Kurmavatara will be awarded a Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal) and a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh at the National Award presentation ceremony.

The movie, based on a novel written by Veerabhadrappa, is produced by Basant Kumar Patil.

The Kannada film Byari won the Best Feature film. The movie is based on the sufferings of Belari Muslim women in the name of marriage and divorce. The movie will be awarded the Gold Lotus Award (Suvarna Kamal) and a cash prize of Rs. 2.5 lakhs.

The National Awards will be presented to the winners on May 3.