Fictional short film ‘Angh’ from Nagaland to be screened at Palm Springs International Short Fest

Our Reporter
Dimapur, June 2 (EMN): After winning the special mention jury award at the Clermont Ferrand International Film Festival in France earlier this year, “Angh”, a fictional short film from Nagaland, has yet again been selected to be screened at another Oscar-qualifying film festival.

Written and directed by Theja Rio, the short film will be screened in the ‘International Competition’ category at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, which will be held from June 22 to the 28th at Palm Springs California.

“Angh” will have its first screening at Camelot Theatres at the Palm Springs Cultural Centre.

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is one of the biggest film festivals in the United States and has helped launch the careers of many successful filmmakers in Hollywood.

“We are extremely grateful and humbled that our film from the foothills of the North East of India has travelled so far. We obviously never imagined anything remotely close to this and have no words to describe the joy and pride we have in our hearts,” Theja Rio told Eastern Mirror.

The 26-year-old filmmaker said that they never imagined this would happen while shooting the film in 2019.

Sharing about his experience and journey in the film industry, he said that it has been an interesting experience because “we shot the film in Nagaland and not just the cast members but even for the crew members, it was challenging, but it was a nice experience because everyone was very determined and hardworking”.

He informed that the short film is not available in digital format as they are doing festival rounds and it will be disqualified if they make the film available online/. However, he said that they would “love to put it up online later in the future”.

Speaking about his upcoming projects, he informed that they have finished shooting a documentary and are about to start editing.

The upcoming documentary, which is about two different generations of Konyaks; the younger modern generation and the other about tattooed faces and hunters, was shot in Mon.

It may be mentioned that “Angh” is set in the year 1963, in the extremely rural parts of Nagaland. It follows a village chief (former headhunter) and his son, the last people in the region to be converted into Christianity.

The film is produced by Nancy Nisa Beso and shot on a Super 16mm Kodak by Italian DOP Vincenzo Condorelli, the 26-year-old director informed.

In May, “Angh” had its US premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).

Just ahead of its 27th festival, the annual Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its 2021 line up that will showcase nearly 300 films. The festival will have 32 world premieres, 13 international premieres, 46 North American premieres and 22 US premieres. All in-theatre screenings will take place at the Camelot Theatres. It was stated that Anita (India/USA), a short film directed by Sushma Khadepaun, is the only other Indian film in the festival this year.