Archive · 12 Oct 2026
Nagaland’s Angh Pursues Oscar Path Outside India’s Official Pick
Angh is a film from Nagaland, directed by Theja Rio.
It tells the story of a village chief whose community is changing after a Christian missionary arrives.
The chief’s beliefs and traditions differ from the new religion, and this also causes problems between him and his son.
The film won a major prize at a festival in Toronto.
That prize makes it eligible to compete for an international feature film Oscar.
India’s official choice is a different film, Gondhal, so Angh is trying to compete on its own.
Its team plans to show the movie to Oscar voters and find distributors.
They say this will take careful planning and money.
Theja Rio’s Konyak-language drama Angh is seeking an Oscar nomination independently of India’s official entry, Gondhal.
Set in 1962, the film follows a Konyak village chief confronting Christianity’s arrival and tensions with his son.
Angh won the Platform section’s top prize at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, qualifying it for the international feature Oscar.
Producer Nancy Nisa Beso and sales agent Gaurav Dhingra are planning an expensive campaign to reach voters and secure distribution.
The team says the Toronto award offers useful validation, while the film’s Oscar prospects depend on screenings, promotion and voter awareness.
- Who
- Director Theja Rio, producer Nancy Nisa Beso and sales agent Gaurav Dhingra are campaigning for Angh.
- What
- Angh is pursuing the international feature film Oscar despite not being India’s official entry.
- When
- The film is set in 1962; its Oscar campaign follows its September 2026 Toronto festival award, with nominations scheduled for January 17 and the ceremony for March 14.
- Where
- The story is set in a Konyak village in Nagaland; the film won its award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
- Why
- The Toronto Platform award qualified the film for the Oscar category, and its team hopes to secure voter attention and distribution.
Competitive Oscar strategy
Cultural representation
How India should choose its Oscar entry
Competitive Oscar strategy
Nancy Nisa Beso argues that India should back the film most capable of competing internationally, rather than choosing primarily to represent Indian culture.
Cultural representation
The article notes that the Film Federation of India selected Gondhal as the official entry; it does not provide the selection panel’s reasoning or a response to Beso’s criticism.
Angh’s independent campaign
Competitive Oscar strategy
Beso and Gaurav Dhingra say the Toronto award gives Angh valuable validation and that a carefully planned campaign could help it reach voters.
Cultural representation
The team acknowledges that, without official selection, Angh lacks the government funding available to India’s official Oscar hopeful and must manage a costly campaign itself.
- Film
- Angh, a Konyak-language drama directed by Theja Rio
- India’s official entry
- Gondhal, a Marathi-language psychological thriller directed by Santosh Davakhar
- Setting
- 1962, in a Konyak village in Nagaland
- Toronto award
- Top prize in the Platform section at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival
- Award amount
- 20,000 Canadian dollars
- Oscar campaign challenge
- The team says the campaign is lengthy, competitive and expensive
- Oscar dates stated in the article
- Final nominations: January 17; ceremony: March 14