Axone is an engaging and layered film on Delhi's Northeastern community

Made by Nicholas Kharkongor, Axone shines a light on the experiences of young people from India's Northeastern states.

In a familiar setting in Delhi, a backdrop where grandmothers keep a hawkish watch on the comings and goings of everyone in the building, Axone centres around last-minute wedding festivities being organised by a group of friends, all from the Northeast.

Pronounced akhuni, the film’s name refers to a Naga favourite, fermented soybean used to flavour meat-based dishes. The fermented ingredient’s flavour and odour is what many would call an acquired taste. Less politely, one of the actors in the film refers to it as “food that smells like shit”.

Made by Nicholas Kharkongor, Axone shines a light on the experiences of