Nagaland's 'Angh' wins Toronto International Film Festival award, Becomes eligible for 2027 Oscars

Theja Rio’s debut feature ‘Angh’ won the Platform Award at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), becoming the first Indian film to win the prestigious prize, India Today reported on Monday.

The TIFF victory has also opened an unusual route to the 2027 Oscars. ‘Angh’ is now eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, despite the fact that India’s official Oscar entry is Santosh Davakhar’s Marathi film ‘Gondhal’.

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What is ‘Angh’ about?

Set in the early 1960s in a remote village in Nagaland near the Indo-Burma border, ‘Angh’ follows Anghba, the last surviving chief of a deserted village.

In the Konyak Naga community, an Angh is the chief or head of a village or group of villages, while his wife is known as an Anghya. In the film, Anghba remains behind with his ailing wife and young son even after the rest of the villagers have left.

His struggle to preserve his family's traditions and ancestral way of life becomes increasingly difficult when an American missionary arrives. Played by Scottish actor Douglas Henshall, the missionary introduces a different world to Anghba’s son, who begins to see possibilities in the comforts and opportunities offered by the mission.

The film explores faith, cultural transformation, family, identity, home and the difficulty of letting go. At its centre is the relationship between a father and son caught between an old way of life and an emerging new one.

Theja Rio's personal connection with the story

‘Angh’ is Rio's feature directorial debut. The filmmaker, who graduated from the UK's National Film and Television School, has previously directed short films including ‘Dissociate’, ‘Checkpost’ and ‘Ade (On a Sunday)’.

The feature is an adaptation of Rio's 2021 short film ‘Angh’, which won a Special Jury Award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. The feature has been produced by Nancy Nisa Beso and Rio.

He also described the father-son relationship and the film's themes of home, letting go and the transient nature of life as emotions that could connect with audiences beyond the Naga community.

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Why did ‘Angh’ become Oscar-eligible?

This is where the 2027 Oscars bring a major rule change.

The Academy has introduced a second route for films to qualify for consideration in the International Feature Film category. Earlier, the principal route was through a country's official selection. Under the new rules for the 99th Oscars, a non-English-language film can also qualify by winning a designated award at one of six specified international film festivals.

The qualifying festival awards are:

• Berlin International Film Festival - Golden Bear for Best Film
• Busan International Film Festival - Busan Award for Best Film
• Cannes Film Festival - Palme d'Or
• Sundance Film Festival - World Cinema Grand Jury Prize
• Toronto International Film Festival - Platform Award
• Venice International Film Festival - Golden Lion

Since ‘Angh’ won TIFF's Platform Award, it has secured this direct pathway to Academy consideration.

But ‘Angh’ is not India's official Oscar entry

The distinction is important. ‘Angh’ has not replaced ‘Gondhal’ as India's official Oscar submission.

The Film Federation of India selected Santosh Davakhar's Marathi thriller ‘Gondhal’ as India's official entry for the International Feature Film category after considering 33 submissions.

Under the new Academy rules, however, ‘Angh’ can independently enter the consideration process because of its TIFF victory. This means India can have ‘Gondhal’ as its official country submission while ‘Angh’ is separately eligible through the festival-award route.

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