The film covers five years in the life of three generations of Hazara women and their efforts to determine their own lives outside of patriarchal traditions governing Afghanistan. After a forced marriage at age 13 and many years of tending to her husband and family, 52-year-old Hawa decides to learn how to read and write. Supported by her daughter Najiba, she starts up a small textile business. She searches for the traditional Hazara embroidery of the Bamyan region and reworks it into modern clothing to sell in Kabul.

Hawa also takes in her granddaughter Zahra, and together they study and plan for the future. When in August of 2021 the Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan, their lives are turned upside down: Zahra has to return to the village she escaped from and Najiba must urgently leave the country. From exile in France, she continues to help Hawa to fight for her dreams.

In Dari Persian with subtitles in Latvian and English.

Afghanistan is the only nation in the world where girls and women are systematically denied education. In the 1960s and 70s, city-dwelling women were able to study in schools and universities, but that changed with the Soviet invasion and subsequent Taliban regime. After the Taliban regained power in 2021, education opportunities have been very limited – girls are allowed to go to school only up to grade six, and even that has many obstacles.