Kohima: Nagaland filmmaker Theja Rio’s feature film Angh has made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), bringing a Konyak-rooted Naga story to one of the world’s major international cinema platforms.
The film is set in the early 1960s in a remote jungle near the India-Myanmar border where the Angh follows Anghba, the last surviving chief of an abandoned Nagaland village.
The Anghba lives in isolation with his ailing wife and non-speaking young son as new religious and social influences begin to transform the community and its traditional way of life.
The story takes a significant turn with the arrival of an American missionary, played by Scottish actor Douglas Henshall, known for his role in the television series Shetland. His presence introduces new beliefs, material comforts and social possibilities, compelling Anghba to confront a rapidly changing world.
At the centre of the film is the relationship between Anghba and his son. While the father remains determined to preserve the customs and beliefs handed down by his ancestors, his son becomes increasingly drawn to the opportunities and comforts associated with the mission.
Through the father-son conflict, Angh explores conversion and cultural transformation, examining how indigenous traditions can gradually be displaced as new systems of belief and social values take root.
Shot on 16mm film and rooted in Konyak history, the film seeks to present an indigenous Naga experience through a distinctly local perspective while engaging with broader themes of identity, faith, cultural change and memory.
Theja Rio’s debut feature, strikingly photographed and built on a richly spatial sound design, follows the success of his short film of the same name, which won a special jury award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2021.
In an interview with TIFF, Rio views the film as an offering. “A gesture of remembrance, of pride, and of presence. A way of saying that we are here, that we have always been here, and that our stories deserve to stand alongside the rest of the world,” Rio was quoted.
The film’s world premiere at TIFF marks a significant moment for cinema from Nagaland and the Northeast, placing a Naga narrative before an international audience and drawing attention to the region’s history, cultural diversity and emerging filmmaking voices.
Rio’s film joins an international lineup at TIFF, which runs from September 15 to 20, 2026.