Theja Rio's Angh Wins Platform Award At TIFF 2026, Entering Oscar-Qualifying Race

Naga filmmaker Theja Rio’s feature debut Angh has won the top prize in Platform competition at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Under new Oscar rules, the Platform win automatically renders it eligible in the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards. Shot on 16mm by Adam Pietkiewicz, Angh is set in 1960s Nagaland and trails a Konyak chief and his son facing cultural erasure with the arrival of an American missionary. Platform's international jury comprised Pablo Trapero (President), Amma Asante, Sylvia Chang, Luc Déry, and Albert Lee.

Speaking about the historic win, Rio said, “It is a very special moment for me and for everyone associated with the film. I am aware that it is rare for a debut film to receive this kind of recognition, and all I can say is that we made Angh with a lot of love — for the place I come from, for my people and for our culture. At the heart of the film is the relationship between a father and son, but it is also about letting go, our relationship with home and the transient nature of life. These are some of the most universal emotions, and they belong to all of us."

Angh is produced by Nancy Nisa Beso and Theja Rio. The film is represented internationally & domestically for distribution by Jungle Book Studio, which snapped up its international sales rights ahead of its TIFF world premiere. Earlier, Pietkiewicz was announced as the recipient of the TIFF Variety Artisan Award in recognition of his work on Angh.

Nancy Nisa Beso added, “My collaboration with Theja has been one of the longest and most meaningful collaborations of my career. We have been carrying ANGH with us for many years from the short film to the feature and through all of it, we held on to the belief that this was a story we had to tell, and that we had to tell it on our own terms. This recognition means so much to us. I hope it also encourages other filmmakers to take that leap and tell the stories that are close to their hearts, stories from their own communities, their own experiences, their own languages and their own corners of the world, even when they don't fit neatly into what cinema is expected to be."

Executive producer Gaurav Dhingra said, “Some moments become bigger than a film. This is one of them. When I first saw the rushes of Angh, I felt I was looking at something rare, a film born in Nagaland, made by Indigenous filmmakers, carrying the voice of a community rarely seen on the world’s biggest screens on its own terms. To see it win the Platform Competition and earn a direct pathway into the Oscars’ International Feature Film category is deeply moving, for Angh, for its makers, for Nagaland, for India and for independent cinema. If Angh's journey gives another filmmaker the courage to tell their story in their own voice, then its impact will reach far beyond this award."

Angh made its world premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 15.