Overview
- TIFF awarded Angh the Platform Prize in early October 2026, a jury prize that under revised Academy rules gives some festival winners a direct route into consideration for the International Feature Film category.
- The win makes Angh eligible for the 2027 International Feature Oscar process even though India’s official submission for the category is the Marathi film Gondhal.
- Directed by Theja Rio and produced with Nancy Nisa Beso, Angh is a 103-minute feature developed from Rio’s short, shot on 16mm and told largely in the Konyak language.
- The film uses an Indigenous Naga cast alongside Douglas Henshall to dramatize a 1963 village conflict over faith and modernity without revealing key plot outcomes.
- Rio says Nagaland has almost no filmmaking infrastructure and only two theatres in the state, so the TIFF spotlight could help secure Indian distribution, raise visibility for Northeast filmmakers, and push for more local support.