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Films 2015 - Nepal - Waiting for Mamu

Waiting for Mamu

Director: François Caillaud, Dan Chen, Thomas A. Morgan , 2013

Language: English
40 minutes – USA / Nepal

From IMDB: In some parts of the world, children whose parents are sent to prison and who lack other guardians are locked away along with their parents. This documentary short tells the story of what it means for a child to grow up in prison. Waiting for Mamu follows internationally-lauded social worker and 2012 CNN Hero of the Year award-winner Pushpa Basnet, founder of a development center for children who would otherwise grow up behind bars in her native Nepal.

We see what it means for a child to grow up in prison and yet find hope in unlikely places. During a prison tour as part of her university studies, Pushpa Basnet encountered a young girl who tugged at her shawl and smiled up at her. Pushpa promised the young girl’s mother she would be back to get her. Seven years later, Pushpa—known as “Mamu”—runs an organization that gives kids the chance to be kids and get an education. Some return to prison to be with their mothers at night, while some stay in her orphanage.

This film captures the hope of a child to be free from prison, even if just for the day, and to find a childhood.

"Most people see an injustice, get upset, do a short-term something and move on. … Pushpa dared to forge a new path, against all odds, to give incarcerated children an education and a future. To give them love and build their self esteem. To give them hope. She does all this without any claim to their future. I believe she has taken the definition of mother to a new level. Her story is an important one that should be told and I'm honored to have had the opportunity to help make that possible." –Susan Sarandon

The Waiting for Mamu website: www.waitingformamu.com