In actor-director Reza Rahadian’s second feature film, “Casparina,” inspired by the life of his grandmother, Francisca Casparina Fanggidaej, a journalist who was stripped of his Indonesian citizenship in 1965 returns decades later to children who grew up without him.
The project is part of the Asian Project Market operating under the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market (ACFM).
In the movie, Rina is exiled for opposing the government. Thirty-four years later, a letter tells him that the old regime has collapsed and he is free to return home. Broken, she returns home to her children, Andi and Lila, who are now grown up and settled into lives that never include her. While she tries to overcome the pain and anger she experienced in his absence, the mother and children slowly find their way back to each other and begin to understand what she gave up for her country and family.
Rahadian says she was moved by a story of motherhood told through children whose mothers were absent from their lives, set at a moment when a person’s citizenship could be taken away suddenly, forcibly, and without warning. She says the separation kept her grandmother and her children apart for 32 years. “This is a very important story to me,” he says.
He hopes viewers understand that difficult choices come with a price, and that they are sometimes driven by forces one cannot see. She also wants viewers to understand, in her words, “what it means to be a mother who has been absent for 32 years” and what it means for her children to not be able to openly say who their mother is because doing so would put their lives in danger.
Producers Arya Ibrahim and Gita Fara describe the project as the story of the political turmoil of 1965 that tore families apart and sent people into exile, losing their citizenship. According to the producers, Casparina was in Beijing to represent Indonesia at an international forum when her citizenship was revoked due to her opposition to the new regime. He left behind six children and spent 32 years in exile, first in Beijing and then in the Netherlands, until the family was reunited.
For the filmmakers, stories like his reveal a lot about Indonesian history and identity. They call Casparina “a victim of an era” and see the film as a reminder that the same mistakes should not be repeated.
Rahadian’s first feature film as a director, “In Your Lap”, won four awards at the Busan festival’s 2025 Vision awards, including the audience award and the Fipresci award.
“Casparina” is in the early stages of script writing. In Busan, producers hope to meet potential partners and collaborators, film funding and co-production opportunities.