Jakarta. "Athirah," a film based on the life of Vice President Jusuf Kalla's mother starring Cut Mini, has been selected for international film festivals in Vancouver, Canada, and Busan in South Korea.

Film producer Mira Lesmana recently announced the news on her Twitter page.

Vancouver Film Festival will take place on Sept. 29 to Oct. 14 in Vancouver. The film festival screening also marks the film's international debut.

In the international market the film has been retitled "Emma," a word used for "mother" in the Bugis language, hailing from South Sulawesi.

Directed by Riri Riza, "Athirah" tells the inner struggle of a mother. The character is adamant she will keep her family together, even as another woman enters her husband's life. Prior to the film adaption, the story was released as a novel of the same name by Alberthiene Endah.

Actress Cut Mini stars in the title tole

For the filmmaking duo Mira and Riri, participating in VIFF isn’t anything new. Some films they have produced in the past, such as "Eliana-Eliana" (2002), "Gie" (2005), "3 Hari Untuk Selamanya" (2007) and "Sokola Rimba" (2014), were previously selected for the festival.

“Vancouver International Film Festival has been known as one of the festivals with the biggest and best Asian program in North America, it has always been a special place,” Riri said, as quoted by KapanLagi.

VIFF has been around since 1982 and has one of the largest nonfiction programs, after the Documentary Film Festival.

Both Riri and Mira are eager to bring Indonesia to the international film industry and audience.

“'Athirah' has been selected to participate in three international film festivals. But we are not at a liberty to announce the other two festivals, though rest assured that in early October and November, 'Athirah' will be screened in three international film festivals,” said Mira.

The film will be released in Indonesia on Sept. 29.