"Madness in the Desert", that explores the spirit and effort that went into the making of India's Oscar entry "Lagaan", has won the national award for best exploration/adventure film for the year 2003 announced Friday.

"War and Peace", which probes the root of violence in all its manifestations, and "Kaya Poochhe Maya Se", a study of lives near the river Ganga, share the national award for the best non-feature film.

"Madness..." director Satyajit Bhatkal was commended for his gripping and slick tale of the three-year journey of making the widely acclaimed Indo-British movie "Lagaan".

Twenty-two films were awarded from among over 100 considered for national awards seeking to recognize the excellence in all the fields of film making in the non-feature film category.

Of them, 52 were in the video format, allowed for the first time.

A jury of six members chaired by Bhim Sain deliberated over 10 days to finalize the awards.

Filmmakers Anand Patwardhan and Arvind Sinha share the 2003 award for the best non-feature film, which carries a Swarna Kamal and a Rs. 10,000 cash award.

Patwardhan's "War and Peace", in English, sets out to search for the roots of violence manifest in many forms in current times - from communal forces to the nuclear arms race.

Shot in India, Pakistan, Japan and the US, the film explores many causes while illustrating the basic human aspiration for peace, harmony and secularism, in the backdrop of Gandhian thought.

"Kaya Poochhe Maya Se", a Hindi film, is an intense, yet non-judgmental record of the myriad faces of humanity floating around West Bengal's Howrah Station that lies by the side of the river Ganga.

Director Suja's "An Encounter with a Life Living" has bagged the award for the Best First Non-feature Film of a Director for the year 2003.

The film depicts the plight of a physically incapacitated Sarasu and her cheerful will to live. The director achieves this by bringing out the spiritual richness of a "life lived only in the mind" - through an innovative narrative.

Producer Rajashri Mukhopadhyay's "Way Back Home" in Bengali has won the award for the Best Film on Social Issues.