Rakhshan Banietemad decides to capture images of people involved in the presidential elections of 2001 in Iran. She follows some young cinema actors and artists, including her young daughter, who with lots of hopes and desires for future have started a campaign for Khatami. Meeting some of 48 female presidency nominees whose candidacies have been refused by the government, director is deeply attracted by the character of a 25-year-old widow named Arezoo Bayat, who, despite carrying the heavy burden on her shoulders, wishes to fight not only for a better life for herself, her 9-year-old daughter and blind mother but also for all of Iranian. Afterwards, Rakhshan forgets the main atmosphere of that time and joins Arezoo who has to leave her small home finding another shelter in Tehran, and it’s where we find ourselves beside Arezoo and her problems.
During the presidential elections of 1997 in Iran, more than twenty million people gave their vote to Khatami. Four years later in 2001, lots of them, disappointed of process of reformations, were discouraged in re-voting Khatami. But in the meantime, Iranian youngsters, forming more than half of the country’s population, participated actively in elections with this aim that their support would strengthen Khatami against conservative forces. The presence of those who, for the first time, were taking part in a political movement, and also “Arezu”, a young lady at the highest level of poorness and family problems who introduced herself as a presidency candidate, became the reasons that encouraged me to make a film about this period to be recorded in the history…