Angh, filmmaker Theja Rio's first feature film, has won the Platform Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The honour gives the Nagaland-set film an automatic place in the international feature film race at the 2027 Oscars.
The win is notable as Angh was the only Indian film selected for the Platform section this year. However, India's official entry for the international feature category is Gondhal. Santosh Davakhar's film also won him the Best Director award at the International Film Festival of India in Goa.
What Is ‘Angh' About?
Angh is set in Nagaland during the 1960s and follows an elderly Konyak chief and his son. As their village begins to change, they try to preserve the traditional beliefs and way of life passed down through generations.
Director Rio said the father-son relationship forms the heart of the story, which also explores home, separation and the need to let go. The film has actors from indigenous Naga communities and includes BAFTA winner Douglas Henshall.
Angh is the first feature from Nagaland-based Winter Hymns Films and is also produced through Undercover Squirrel. Jungle Book Studio, which acquired its international and local distribution rights before TIFF, is handling its global sales.
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The Makers On ‘Angh'
Rio and producer Nancy Nisa Beso spent years developing Angh, beginning with a short film before expanding it into a feature.
“It is a very special moment for me and for everyone associated with the film,” Rio said after the win. He added that the film was made with love for “the place I come from, for my people and for our culture.”
Beso called their collaboration one of the most meaningful of her career and said she hopes the film encourages filmmakers to tell stories connected to their own communities and experiences.
Executive producer Gaurav Dhingra described the TIFF victory as “bigger than a film.” He said the project felt “something rare” because it was created in Nagaland by Indigenous filmmakers and brought a rarely seen community to international audiences.
Variety critic Siddhant Adlakha praised Angh for bringing a different perspective to the screen and examining how traditional ways of life can disappear in the name of progress.
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