Saving Mum: Our Family Secret
December 12, 2025Maleena Pone’s documentary Saving Mum: Our Family Secret is a bold and deeply personal documentary. The film follows Maleena as she tries to repair her complicated relationship with her mother and confronts a legacy of silence, grief and alcoholism that has shaped their family. Filmed across the UK and Costa Rica, it charts an unfiltered journey through love, resentment and recovery.
At the centre of the story is an Ayahuasca ceremony that becomes a catalyst for honesty and change. What begins as a desperate attempt to reconnect turns into a raw emotional reckoning – forcing both women to face painful truths and see each other beyond the labels of “mother” and “daughter.” Told through years of personal footage, photos, and diaries, Saving Mum: Our Family Secret captures a side of British Punjabi family life rarely seen on screen. It’s about what happens when old wounds are finally opened and healing begins in public view.
The Documentary has been commissioned as part of Channel 4’s First Cut strand; it premiered on the 10th December at 11:10PM and will be available on 4OD thereafter.
Saving Mum: Our Family Secret was Filmed, Produced and Directed by Maleena Pone, Executive Producers Fatima Salaria, Laurence Bowen and Chris Carey. Daniel Trapp was Director of Photography and Zeb Achonu BFE Offline editor
All post done by the team at OnSight with Emily Russul Saib as Senior Colourist, Andy Coles as Sound Supervisor, Andrew Fisun as Online Editor, Alfie Mitchell as Senior Edit Assistant, all overseen by Senior Post Producer Jade Townsend and Head of Documentary Julia Veidt.
