Executive Produced by Susan Sarandon and Morgan Spurlock

Imagine, at just five years old, being sentenced to prison for 13 years. No family, no friends, no school, no connection to the outside world—only life behind bars.

In some parts of the world, when a parent is incarcerated and there is no guardian for their child, the child is imprisoned alongside them. Many spend their entire childhood in prison and are released at age 18 with no life skills, no support system, and no experience beyond a cell.

Waiting for Mamu is a powerful short documentary that explores what it means for a child to grow up in prison—and how hope can still be found. During a university prison tour, social worker Pushpa Basnet encountered a little girl who tugged at her shawl and smiled. Moved, Pushpa promised the girl’s mother she would return to help. Seven years later, Pushpa—affectionately known as “Mamu”—runs an organization that gives these children the chance to live, learn, and experience childhood.

Some children return to prison at night to be with their mothers, while others live in Pushpa’s orphanage. Through their eyes, the film captures the resilience of the human spirit and the profound impact of one woman’s promise: the hope of freedom, even if only for a day, and the discovery of what it means to simply be a child.