Eddie Cahyono’s ‘My Mother’ Explores Migrant Worker Crisis

Eddie Cahyono, whose 2014 drama “Siti” won the Piala Citra for best film at the Indonesian Film Festival, has his latest work “My Mother” selected for the JAFF Future Project as a work-in-progress, about a widow who wants to meet her daughter sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for murdering her employer.

The Indonesia production, directed by Cahyono and produced by Tika Bravani, Eddie Cahyono and Isabelle Glachant through production companies ANP Talenta Media, Memorieslight Pictures, Yasa Buana Film, Knockonwood.inc and Sasha & Co Production, is among 10 Asia-Pacific titles selected for the JAFF Future Project at this year’s JAFF Market in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

“My Mother” follows a widow attempting to reunite with her daughter who has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for murdering her employer. However, the daughter refuses to see her mother, having never forgiven her for past betrayals.

The project stems from a deeply personal memory for Cahyono. “‘My mother once told me that she left the village to go to the city for a better life. And that touched my heart,’” the director says. “That memory prompted me to research migrant workers. They dream that working abroad will be a solution to their families’ financial problems.”

What surprised the director during his research were the domestic problems faced by those who worked abroad. “What surprised me was that those who worked abroad had problems with their families in Indonesia,” he says. “Domestic violence or even those who were forced into marriage by their parents to cover debts.”

This led Cahyono to shift his focus to the families in Indonesia. “I then became interested in the families they left behind,” he says. “Parents, mothers, and fathers, what happened to them, how did they feel after their children left? This story contains questions about separation, loss, and how to let go.”

The director emphasizes the broader significance of the story beyond individual characters. “This film is about a mother’s impossible choice, the strength of the human spirit, and the desperate realities faced by women migrant workers,” Cahyono says.

At JAFF Market, the production team seeks crucial industry partnerships. “The film market is crucial to the film industry,” the filmmakers say. “The JAFF Market aims to gain exposure and collaborate with co-funding, distribution, and festivals. And, of course, how the ‘My Mother’ film project will be recognized by the wider public.”

JAFF Future Project functions as both a development platform and co-production hub, designed to advance independent works toward completion and distribution. The initiative runs Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Jogja Expo Center in Yogyakarta as part of the broader 20th-anniversary celebration of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.