From Nagaland to a Path to the Oscars: Indian Film Brings a Rarely Seen World to Global Cinema

A film made in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland has gained international attention after winning a major award at the Toronto International Film Festival, putting its Konyak-language story on a path toward consideration for the 2027 Academy Awards.

“Angh,” the debut feature from Nagaland filmmaker Theja Rio, won the Platform Prize at TIFF 2026. The award recognises films with distinctive directing voices, and the jury praised Rio’s perspective and the film’s portrayal of a community rarely represented on international screens.

The film is particularly notable because it was made in Konyak, a language spoken by one of Nagaland’s major Indigenous communities. Most of the cast members had never acted in front of a camera before, making the film’s international recognition an unusual achievement for both its director and performers.

Set in the early 1960s, Angh follows Anghba, an ageing hereditary village chief, and his young son as their community experiences major social and religious changes. Christianity is spreading through the region, challenging older traditions and beliefs.

The father resists the changes while his son becomes increasingly curious about the new world emerging around them. At its centre, Rio’s film is therefore not simply a historical story but a father-and-son relationship shaped by changing ideas of faith, family and identity.

Rio developed the idea after visiting Mon district, where many Konyak communities live. He was struck by how dramatically different generations could be within the same family. An older relative might still carry facial tattoos associated with the community’s historical traditions, while younger generations could be living very different modern lives.

Rio described the experience as being like travelling through time, with the past and present existing alongside one another.

The filmmaker also wanted to change how Nagaland and the Konyak people have traditionally been portrayed. Earlier photographs and documentaries often viewed the region through the eyes of outsiders such as explorers, colonial officials and missionaries.

For Angh, Rio instead wanted audiences to experience the story from inside the community. Konyak advisers contributed to the dialogue, costumes and production design, while many performers were recruited locally.

The film was shot on 16mm, with cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz drawing inspiration from photographs and archival footage of Nagaland from the 1950s and 1960s. Because the film had to be processed in Mumbai, the crew sometimes continued filming for days without being able to immediately review the footage.

Scottish actor Douglas Henshall also appears in the film as an American missionary, alongside largely first-time Konyak performers.

The Toronto award does not mean that Angh is already an Oscar nominee. However, under new Academy eligibility rules, winners of designated prizes at certain international film festivals can qualify for consideration in the International Feature Film category without relying solely on their country’s official submission.

For Rio, the attention has also highlighted the wider filmmaking potential of Nagaland. He has said that the region has many filmmakers and stories that have yet to reach international audiences.

After the attention surrounding Angh, Rio’s immediate plan was considerably simpler: return home to Nagaland and play football with his friends.

Sources:
BBC News – From Nagaland to a path to the Oscars
India Today – Angh wins at Toronto Film Festival