Reza Rahadian brings grandmother's exile story Casparina to Busan market

Indonesian actor-director Reza Rahadian has brought a story from his own family to Busan as his second feature film.

The project is Casparina, an exile drama inspired by his grandmother Francisca Casparina Fanggidaej, and it is being pitched at the Asian Project Market, the finance market for unfinished films that runs inside the Busan International Film Festival's Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM). The script is still in its early stages, according to Variety.

Producers Arya Ibrahim and Gita Fara say Fanggidaej was in Beijing representing Indonesia at an international forum when her citizenship was revoked over her opposition to the new regime. She left six children behind in Indonesia and spent 32 years in exile, first in Beijing and later in the Netherlands, before the family reconnected. Rahadian has described the separation as keeping his grandmother and her children apart for 32 years.

The film version fictionalises that history. Its protagonist, Rina, is exiled for opposing the government and returns 34 years later after learning the old regime has collapsed. That extra two years separates the screen story from the family account.

Casparina is listed as project No. 6 from Indonesia in the official 2026 market line-up, where Busan credits the director under his full name, Reza Rahadian Matulessy. The 29th Asian Project Market runs from 10 to 13 October 2026 at Exhibition Center 2, BEXCO in Busan, and unveiled 30 selections for this edition, according to Variety. The group also includes new projects from Anthony Chen, Mouly Surya and Fran Borgia.

For filmmakers, selection brings one-on-one meetings with financiers, sales agents and other industry professionals, plus automatic nomination for the market's APM Awards and promotion through the festival's official channels.

Rahadian arrives with recent form in Busan. His directing debut, On Your Lap, won four prizes in the festival's Vision awards in 2025, including the audience award and the FIPRESCI award, the prize voted by international film critics.

What makes this stand out is how close the material sits. A market slate is usually about logistics, dates and deal-making. Here the pitch is also a family reunion delayed by three decades, now being shaped into a cinema story.