Diversion Takes World Sales on Karlovy Vary Title 'The Ink-Stained Hand and a Missing Thumb'

Bangkok-based Diversion has acquired world sales rights to Yashasvi Juyal's debut feature "The Ink-Stained Hand and a Missing Thumb," which premiered in the Proxima Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Mai Meksawan closed the deal for Diversion with Juyal of Silvercord Films.

The film's next stop is the Singapore International Film Festival, where it will have its Asian premiere in the Asian Feature Film Competition. Diversion will also represent the title at the Busan International Film Festival's Asian Contents & Film Market.

What is the film about?

The story unfolds at a toll booth station, where Rajji and her co-workers move through the same days on repeat. That rhythm breaks when Santosh, her lover and a fellow migrant worker, dies in a truck accident while on duty in his booth. Grief settles over the station. Then, a day later, Santosh turns up again — alive, after a fashion. His return defies explanation and proves unsettling. As the booth where he died faces demolition, his hold on the world begins to slip away with it.

Where does the film's supernatural register come from?

Juyal traced the film's ghostly logic to his upbringing in the upper Himalayas. "Ghost for us is something which exists. We don't believe that it's in stories," he told Variety. "Many times we just talk about it naturally that, 'Oh, you saw a ghost yesterday?' My friend say, 'Oh, I saw day before yesterday.' So, it's like as common as that, and we all have had our experiences in the upper Himalayas."

Who made the film?

Uttarakhand-based Silvercord Films produced the feature, with Khan & Kumar Media on board as co-producer. Shaunak Sen, the Oscar-nominated director of the Sundance grand jury prize winner "All That Breathes," serves as executive producer.

The project drew backing from:

• The Red Sea Fund
• Visions Sud Est
• Take Ten
• The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, India
• Film Companion Studios

What else is on Diversion's slate?

"The Ink-Stained Hand and a Missing Thumb" joins John Torres' "The Remotes" on Diversion's current slate. Torres' film recently premiered in the Toronto Film Festival's Wavelengths section and the New York Film Festival's Currents strand. With back-to-back festival berths in Singapore and a market presence in Busan, Diversion is positioning Juyal's debut for buyers across Asia and beyond.