Wazhma Bahar

Afghanistan, Spring 2002 — Following the fall of the taliban regime, the country faces extreme poverty. To feed his family, a father is forced to sell his 15-year-old daughter to a 65-year-old man. Refusing to accept this fate for her child, the mother, determined to give her a brighter future, arranges a marriage with a man living in Montreal. In return, she makes a solemn promise: the children born of this union will one day marry their cousins remaining in Afghanistan. Montreal, Spring 2020 — The pact resurfaces. Now well integrated into Quebec society, Zarmina refuses to let her 15-year-old daughter marry her cousin in Afghanistan. Her firm opposition triggers a tragic chain of events.

It’s snowing in Kabul, and gregarious waiter Mustafa charms a pretty student named Wajma. The pair begin a clandestine relationship—they’re playful and passionate but ever mindful of the societal rules they are breaking. After Wajma discovers she is pregnant, her certainty that Mustafa will marry her falters, and word of their dalliance gets out. Her father must decide between his culturally held right to uphold family honor and his devotion to his daughter.