The top documentary film of the festival in International Competition is honored with the Golden Conch Award and a Cash Prize of ₹1 million (₹10 lakhs).

All the awards in the competition category are decided by an International and National Jury respectively, comprising top documentary and short filmmakers from India and abroad.

The delegate fee is waived for students of film schools and mass media courses, in a bid to attract youngsters to meet up with masters.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting approved the doubling of prize money for the Golden Conch Award-winning Best Documentary Film in the International Competition to ₹1 million.

The International Jury was made up of Don Askarian (Germany), Jesper Andersen (Denmark), Mathicu Roy (Canada), Siddharth Kak (India) and Gitanjali Rao (Mumbai).

Manipuri Phum Shang by Haobam Paban Kumar won the top honors at the festival, along with the Swiss Indian films My Name Is Salt and Placebo.