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Jungle Book Studio has taken international sales rights to “Angh,” the debut feature from Nagaland filmmaker Theja Rio. The film is world premiering at the Toronto Film Festival.
The film is the sole Indian entry in TIFF’s Platform competition. Set in the remote hills of Nagaland in the early 1960s, it centers on a Konyak chief and his son — the last in their village to remain unbaptized — whose lives are upended when an American missionary arrives. The story turns on the friction between faith and tradition, and on a way of life that is disappearing.
Shot on 16mm, “Angh” features a cast of Indigenous actors alongside “Shetland” star Douglas Henshall as the American missionary.
Variety is exclusively unveiling a clip.
Rio trained at the U.K.’s National Film and Television School and previously made a short film of the same name, which was honored with the Special Jury Award at Clermont-Ferrand. His short “Ade (On a Sunday)” premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and claimed the best film prize at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
The film is produced by Nancy Nisa Beso through her shingle Winter Hymns Films and Rio through his Undercover Squirrel outfit. Jungle Book Studio founder Gaurav Dhingra serves as executive producer in addition to handling world sales.
“Making ‘Angh’ felt like a homecoming, an opportunity to reconnect with my roots and tell our stories through our own lens,” said Rio. “Alongside me, Nancy has been part of this journey from the very beginning, from the short film to what has now become my first feature. Having lived with these characters and this world for so long, they feel deeply familiar to both of us.”
Beso added: “This film comes from a strong desire to tell stories that are ours. ‘Angh’ is our way of honoring our people, preserving the stories carried by our ancestors, and reclaiming our own narrative while allowing it to find its place on the global stage. Theja has brought an extraordinary depth of vision and sensitivity to this story, and it has been deeply meaningful to build this film alongside him.”
Dhingra brings more than two decades of producing experience to Jungle Book Studio’s sales operation. His previous credits include “Faith Connections,” which sold in more than 20 territories following its Toronto premiere; “Angry Indian Goddesses,” released theatrically in more than 67 countries and licensed worldwide by Netflix; “Beyond the Known World,” the first official India-New Zealand co-production; and “Stolen,” a Venice selection that received a global release on Prime Video.
“‘Angh’ is a spectacular amalgamation of a global cinematic aesthetic and a deeply rooted Nagamese ethos,” said Dhingra. “With both its director Theja Rio and producer Nancy Beso hailing from Nagaland, the film eschews the ‘outsider gaze’ and the pitfalls of Orientalist exoticisation, authentically anchoring its narrative in an Indigenous cultural lens shaped by lived experience. An Indigenous story told by Indigenous filmmakers, ‘Angh’ represents some of the most exciting cinema emerging from India’s margins, with the potential to become a torchbearer for a new, truly global Indian cinema. As a world sales company, Jungle Book Studio can already envision ‘Angh’ setting the international buyers’ circuit alight and sparking a buzz across territories. We are thrilled to champion this cinematic supernova and take it to audiences worldwide.”
Watch the clip here:
English (US) ·