The 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has selected Yashasvi Juyal’s The Ink-Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb for the Proxima Competition, the section focused on emerging and formally adventurous cinema.
Co-produced by India, the US and Saudi Arabia, it is the only Indian title in the festival’s two main competitive strands this year. The selection marks a significant international platform for Juyal, with Proxima often serving as a launchpad for new filmmakers.
The stronger Indian connection comes through Karlovy Vary’s history.
As part of Out of the Past: KVIFF 60/80, a retrospective marking the festival’s 60 editions across 80 years, Mrinal Sen’s Oka Oori Katha (The Outsiders) (1977) will screen alongside landmark festival titles.
Loosely adapted from a Munshi Premchand story and set in rural Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu-language film is among Sen’s sharpest critiques of poverty and class. It won the Special Jury Award at Karlovy Vary in 1977.
Its inclusion highlights Sen’s place not only in Indian parallel cinema, but also in the history of politically engaged world cinema. For Indian audiences, Karlovy Vary 2026 offers a small but notable presence: a new independent voice and a reminder of a major cinematic legacy.
