Slamdance Film Review: Waiting for Mamu
Events
Waiting for Mamu
Slamdance Film Festival
Director: Thomas Morgan, Francois Caillaud, Dan Chen
In Kathmandu, Nepal, the children of convicted citizens are sent to prison with their parents until they are old enough to make it on their own or until their parents are released. Pushpa "Mamu" Basnet noticed this as she was earning a degree in social work, and decided to do something to change it: She started the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) in 2005 and has been working on getting these children out of prison, taking care of them and educating them ever since. The documentary follows Basnet and the children of the ECDC through their hardships and their joys, celebrating Basnet’s progress even as she herself stays focused on how very far there is to go before the ECDC can afford to help all of the children still waiting in the prison. Waiting for Mamu captures the beauty of kindness, empathy and selflessness. Through interviews with the parents—most of whom are still in prison—and the children themselves, directors Morgan, Caillaud and Chen are able to portray Basnet as the true heroine she is, and provide the honest, powerful message that a single person can change the world. If everyone could follow Basnet’s beliefs of passing the thanks (“Today we give it to them, tomorrow they give it to someone else”), then this world would need a great deal more documentaries.
Screenings:
Date: 1.20, 7:25 PM Venue: Treasure Mountain Inn, Main Screening Room
Date: 1.23, 4:10 PM Venue: Treasure Mountain Inn, Main Screening Room