An adaptation of his 2021 short of the same name, Theja Rio’s debut feature film, Angh, is the kind of cinema that conveys a lot by saying very little. A seemingly simple story set in a Nagaland village in the 1960s, it’s centred on a father and son, the last men standing in the face of the radical changes and march of Christianity being ushered into their world.
The Konyak language film packs in profound layers about ideas of identity, roots, culture and community, beliefs and traditions, the old ways of living making way for the new, and the trade-offs that are inevitably made in the name of progress. The dedication at the end reads: “To everything our people have lost along the way”.
A slice of history, community, language and culture never seen on international or domestic screens, Angh has been evocatively shot in 16mm by Polish cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz, who bagged the Artisan Award for the film earlier at TIFF. Shetland star Douglas Henshall, playing the missionary, joins an ensemble cast of local, non-professional actors—Anghlong Konyak, Sobino Rengma, Genpai Konyak, Amah Konyak, Wangton Konyak—marking their first brush with the camera.
Rooted and real in its representation of the place and people, it deals with themes that strike a universal chord. No surprise then for it to have won the Platform award at the Toronto International Film Festival, an achievement that, as per the new Academy guidelines, makes the film eligible to compete for Best International Feature Film Oscar despite not having been chosen as India’s official entry. Commenting on the positive development about his film, Rio says, “It is a very special moment for me and for everyone associated with the film... 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. To see Angh connect with audiences beyond our own community has been deeply moving. I feel humbled and grateful. I want to thank the jury for recognising our work and for giving us the opportunity to represent our country and our culture on two of the world’s most prestigious stages — TIFF’s Platform Competition and, soon, the Academy Awards as well.”
An indigenous writer-director from Kohima, Nagaland, Theja Rio met The New Indian Express for a quick chat in Toronto, on the eve of the film’s world premiere and days before its historic win.
Excerpts:
What made you pick up this story set in the past to mark your feature film debut? Did you relate to the theme in a major way?
Theja Rio: When you come from a place like Nagaland that has gone through a very swift transition, where we've been culturally deracinated, [an idea like this] comes almost organically. Of course, we didn't go through the transition at its peak, but in our everyday lives we feel the hangover of it. Thematically, the struggle for identity is something that I can resonate with. And, beyond that, the generation gap, the old versus the new, traditional versus the modern, is a theme that exists universally. However, I feel that the contrast is very huge where we come from. So, Angh does come from a place that one is very innately and inherently connected with.
You have situated this conflict between the traditional and the modern in a father-son relationship…
TR: Angh is the expanded version of a short film I wrote in 2018. Basically, that was the source of how I wanted to tell the story, the perspective from which I wanted to narrate it. The father-son relationship is a very classical way of fleshing out the problems of the generation gap. It's this conflict I was very interested in, and both of them were perfect vessels to represent it despite the love and bond that they share. They felt like the most organic characters, the most organic sources to explore this with.
There is also the larger motif of solidarity and community, the intrusion of the outside forces as opposed to the inner workings, the internal tumult of a culture…
TR: I have been living away from Nagaland for a very long time now. I studied in Delhi, then moved to the UK, and it's been half of my life that I've been away, while my parents live back home. So, it's also about branching away on your own, away from the world and culture that you know. That conflict I have also felt. I have taken things from my own life and then sprinkled them into the film and the plot.
You feel a lot for the last man standing for the indigenous culture, and yet I could sense that the child is also not unjustified in getting drawn to the modern. There is no black or white, contradiction seems inherent to this space…
TR: When I was writing the script, I tried to maintain a very neutral perspective, and it's not necessarily an effort that I had to make consciously. It's also because the film comes out of something that even I'm deeply conflicted about. And I like making films on things I am conflicted about. It gives you depth in every way, in all aspects. On the other hand, if you're making a film about things that you're very sure of, then it can easily spiral into something that's propaganda or an agenda.
You studied filmmaking?
TR: At the National Film and Television School in the UK.
Were films always a driving force? Have you always been interested in them?
TR: Well, yes and no. There were no cinemas or film industries in Nagaland. So, growing up, the films we would consume would be the ones that came on television—Star Movies, HBO, etc. It was mostly Hollywood blockbusters or Chinese kung fu films. I discovered international cinema in my late teens. That was the inception of my love for cinema. I was always very interested in storytelling. I started as a writer. I would write lyrics and short stories, and then eventually transitioned into writing screenplays. Directing came a bit later. I didn't have any idea what a director did, but I didn't want someone else to translate my vision to the screen either. So, that's when I decided to become a director.
Where did you shoot Angh? On location in Nagaland?
TR: In Nagaland. We built two villages to shoot.
Where did you draw the cast from?
TR: The father and son are non-actors. Everyone else, apart from Douglas Henshall, is a non-actor. We street-casted them. We went to the Mon region, and that's when we did a lot of casting. Very few people turned up for it, so we had to go village to village and find these people. But eventually I did find the right people, I think.
Are they real father and son?
TR: No, they're not. They're not related.
The visuality of the film is striking. Are there any filmmakers you draw inspiration from in terms of how they portray issues on screen?
TR: When it comes to cinematic language, my favourite director has been Abbas Kiarostami. Of course, my film is very different from a typical Kiarostami film. Akira Kurosawa is also someone who's been a major influence. Just the way these directors block their actors, their subtlety in fleshing out their themes and characters, has always been an inspiration.
Christianity’s march into Nagaland is the most intriguing aspect about the film…
TR: We're the most Baptist state in the world. American missionaries were the reason the majority of the Nagas are converted Protestants, Baptists. Back home, almost everyone I know is a Christian. That is the faith that I grew up in. That is the faith that is in my household. So, it's something that has been very central in my life. But, at the same time, the arrival of Christianity is also, unfortunately, the cause of so many things being diminished, so many cultural things getting diminished. So, the film stems from that conflict.
So, are you conflicted about/question religion?
TR: In certain aspects, definitely. But I feel so many younger Naga people are now trying to find the balance. Christianity has also brought a lot of peace in the region. Earlier, we engaged in a lot of village warfare. Headhunting was brought to an end by Christianity.
After TIFF, which film festivals are you going to?
TR: Once you get into a film festival like TIFF, then there's a lot of festivals that come calling. So, we're yet to decide exactly where we're going. But there's been interest from certain festivals, and we're interested in certain festivals too.
