‘Angh’: How a film from Nagaland hopes to crack the Oscars – without being India’s official pick

India will be represented at the 2027 Oscars by Gondhal, a Marathi-language psychological thriller by first-time director Santosh Davakhar. But another Indian debutant director’s film will also make a bid for the Academy Award for Best International Film: Theja Rio’s Angh.

The Konyak-language drama recounts the challenges faced by the Konyak community in Nagaland by the spread of Christianity. Set in 1962, a year before Nagaland became a state of the Indian Union, Angh chronicles the titular village chief’s valiant efforts to preserve his way of life.

An American Baptist missionary has converted everyone else in the village, which the Angh regards as a gross betrayal. The Angh’s animistic beliefs and ritualistic headhunting are at odds with the missionary’s preaching – a stand-off that also causes tensions between the Angh and his son.

Although Angh is not India’s official entry to the Oscars, it is charting its own path, boosted by a major award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Angh won the top prize in the Platform section, a feat that automatically qualifies the Indian production for the international feature film Oscar.

Ever since the Toronto triumph, 31-year-old Theja Rio has been swept up in a whirl of celebrations. “I hold the world record for the most handshakes in...

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