The Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters

Romania2022documentary84'Fokus na Rumunię (2024)

Dancing, fun, alcohol and the buzz of family celebrations. A Roma group in Transylvania has a tradition that resemble aristocratic families', of passing on a chalice. This unobtrusive object, a relic of the past, seemingly an anthropological curiosity, fulfils an immensely important function for the families there. It is like the coat of arms or a symbol of prestige, which can only be passed on to the male offspring of the family. Young couples from arranged marriages, like the protagonists of the documentary, face an enormous pressure – they are expected to conceive a son. Problems with getting pregnant or giving birth to a daughter lead to family conflicts or even pose a threat of ending the relationship. In order to avoid the tragedy, young women decide to undergo a sex-selective abortion.

directed by: Catalina Tesar
An anthropologist specializing in Roma culture. She works as a researcher at the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Bucharest. She earned her PhD from the University College London, with a thesis about the economic, sexual and political dimensions of marital alliances among Cortorari Transylvanian Roma. "The Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters" is based on her PhD research. Cătălina received a Fejos Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Wenner Gren Foundation US to help filming on “The Chalice”. The film is her debut documentary.
Dana Bunescu
A well-known Romanian editor and sound designer. She edited and the sound designed of the most representative fiction films of the New Romanian Wave (such as Puiu’s “The Death of Mr Lazarescu” or Mungiu’s “4 Month, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”), as well as of several important Romanian documentaries (such as Ujica’s “The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu”). In 2017 she was awarded the Silver Bear of the Berlinale, for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in editing. She is the co-director of the documentaries "The Distance between Me and Me" (2018), and "Evropa" (2021).
cinematography: Catalina Tesar, Catalin Musat, Ileana Szasz
script: Catalina Tesar
editing: Dana Bunescu, Ciprian Cimpoi
production: Catalina Tesar (Erakli Film)
Photo