Film from Nagaland opens a rarely seen world — and a path to the Oscars
Indian director Theja Rio's debut feature "Angh", from the small state of Nagaland, won the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, opening a route to Oscar consideration. The Konyak-language film depicts generational change as Christianity spread in the early 1960s.
"Angh", a film made in Nagaland, a mountainous state in India's northeast, won the juried Platform Prize this month at the Toronto International Film Festival — an award recognising films with a distinctive directorial voice. It is the debut feature of director Theja Rio, and most of its cast had never faced a camera before.
The film is in Konyak, a tribal language unfamiliar to most Indians. The award gives "Angh" an unusual route toward the 2027 Academy Awards: under new rules, winners of designated prizes at select festivals can qualify for International Feature Film consideration without relying solely on their country's official submission.
A story of generational change
Set in the early 1960s, the film follows Anghba, the hereditary chief of a Konyak village, and his son, as Christianity spreads through the region. The Konyaks are one of Nagaland's 17 major tribes, concentrated in the Mon district, where chiefs are known as Anghs. Some older men still bear facial tattoos linked to the tribe's historical practice of headhunting.
Rio got the idea while visiting Mon for another project, struck by how closely generations lived side by side there — within one family, a grandfather might be a former headhunter with a tattooed face, while his grandson plays guitar in a rock band. Nagaland, previously part of Assam, formally became an Indian state in December 1963, a period when Christianity, already spreading for decades among Naga communities, was reshaping customs and daily life alongside religious belief.
A view from within
Rio wanted to avoid the outsider's gaze common in earlier films and documentaries about Nagaland, instead inviting viewers to see through the characters' eyes. Konyak advisers worked on dialogue, costumes and production design, and much of the cast consisted of first-time Konyak performers.
The film was shot on 16mm, drawing on archival photographs and footage from the 1950s and 60s, which created logistical challenges since film reels had to be sent to Mumbai for processing. Rio, who describes Nagaland's film industry as still at an early stage, hopes the attention around "Angh" will draw interest to other stories from the region.
