Theja Rio’s debut feature ‘Angh’ won the Platform competition at the 2026 Toronto Film Festival, qualifying it for the Best International Feature Oscar.
Variety notes that “Angh,” Theja Rio’s first feature expanding on his 2021 short, is set in 1960s Nagaland and follows the aging chief Anghba (Anghlong Konyak) as he confronts the arrival of an American Baptist missionary and the lure of modern clothing for his son Amao (Sobino Rengma). The story is framed as a dreamlike lament about colonial encroachment on a waning Konyak tribe.
The film received the top prize in the Platform competition at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, a win that automatically qualifies it for consideration in the Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards.
Production details listed by Variety include Indian producers Nancy Nisa Beso, Theja Rio, Jai Vir Rodgers and Bernardo Angeletti, with Gaurav Dhingra as executive producer. The cast is largely composed of tribal non‑actors, and cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz and the 16mm format are highlighted for creating an “inviting” texture that mirrors the film’s themes. The review provides no further information beyond these points.