KARRAR AL-AZZAWI

Daughters of the Wind follows Mariam and Thea, two girls with Down syndrome, as they chase their dreams with joy, stubbornness, and grace.

In Baghdad, 13-year-old Mariam is a force of nature: curious, funny, and full of life. She is an athlete on the Baghdad Paralympic team, and her dream is to compete at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Berlin to win gold and raise the Iraqi flag high. Her mother is working hard to get her into school, fighting to give her daughter every chance she deserves.

In Norway, 15-year-old Thea plays piano in a band with her eyes set on a big stage until a serious heart condition leads to a life-threatening surgery that throws everything into uncertainty. Having already survived two heart operations as a little child, she must now face another, and no one knows if she will make it through.

At the heart of the film are the voices of these two mothers sharing their fears, hopes, quiet doubts, and fierce love in voiceover, weaving two stories into one deeply human portrait. What unites them is more powerful than what separates them: both simply refuse to give up.

Daughters of the Wind honors its subjects not as symbols or statistics, but as people whose lives matter. This is a universal story about family love and mothers who move mountains quietly, persistently, daily, for their children. About what it means to belong. About the courage it takes to keep going, and the extraordinary, ordinary love that makes it possible.