A comparative portrait of two strong Afghan personalities, as seen through the eyes and the daily life of two exceptional women: Habiba Sorabi and Aïcha Habibi. The first personifies emerging democratic power; the second, the autocratic power of the warlords in remote provinces. Together, they represent the current rift in Afghanistan, except that it has nothing to do with bearded men in turbans, but rather two women of power in a world of men. How did they impose themselves? How do they exercise their authority? Is their way of governing different from that of men? How do their people perceive them? Are they moving for the liberation of women or merely perpetuating age-old inequalities? One bears the title of "wali" (governor) and the other “commander”. One answers to the authorities in Kabul; the other is loyal to the Mudjahadins who fought the Russians during the war, then then Taliban. Yet both are respected as "The Mothers of All".
