Folke Rydén’s documentary offers an intimate, long-term portrait of several Iraqi women who enter politics in the years following the fall of Saddam Hussein. Filmed across Baghdad, Amman, Washington D.C. and Sweden, the film traces their journeys as they navigate threats, cultural pressure and political fragmentation, all while fighting to be part of Iraq’s developing democratic structures. These women hold profoundly different ideas about nation-building, secularism, religion and women’s rights — disagreements that reflect the wider ideological struggle taking place throughout Iraq. By focusing on them as individuals rather than symbols, the film exposes the complexity of building a democracy in a society marked by conflict, trauma and competing visions for the future. At its core, the documentary asks a difficult question: should the international community support emerging democracies even when they restrict certain rights, especially those of women? Through the personal stories of these candidates, the film opens a broader debate about power, representation and the fragile foundations of democracy itself.