The Chalice. Of Daughters and Sons – A world so faraway, yet so close
At the 2019 edition of the Astra film festival, Dana Bunescu presented her directorial debut, co-directed in collaboration with Mona Nicoara: The Distance Between Me and Me, a documentary focused on the life and art of writer Nina Cassian, who was active during the time of the Romanian communist regime. Three years later, the filmmaker returns to the festival, this time working with director, scriptwriter and producer Cătălina Tesar on the latter’s directorial debut. In contrast to the former, The Chalice. Of Daughters and Sons doesn’t retrospectively pursue the drama of a single character, but the contemporary story of a community of Cortorar Roma living in a Transsylvanian village, deeply anchored in traditions and principles that seem to belong to a different world.
On the Nicolae Bălcescu boulevard in Sibiu, with its Saint Valentine’s Day stalls and the ever-present Buratino clown, one of the town’s symbolic figures, amongst locals and tourists, maybe even myself, some of the passers-by were Peli, his wife Nina, and his sister, Băra. They belong to an ethnic group about which the white majority has many opinions, but just as little knowledge, which they avoid as much as possible. The Chalice. Of Daughters and Sons reveals a history, a purpose, a lifestyle belonging to these people to the larger audience, that consciously refuses to know them beyond appearances. With a poignant subtlety, documentary filmmaker Cătălina Tesar entered their household, sat at their dinner tables, witnessed their rituals and parties, their disputes and affairs, capturing images that often seem directed, more than they seem to be taken during day-to-day moments. Her presence is felt so little that, without the sudden camera movements during the film’s most intense moments or the rare mentions of her name, the spectators might easily forget that they’re watching a documentary.
The Chalice. Of Daughters and Sons opens with a specific ritual of the Roma community. Băra, Peli și Nina are introduced to the audience through a few informative pictures and texts. Then, the tahiti is described, a silver chalice that symbolizes a family’s wealth. The beauty and artistry of the chalice dictates the status of its owners, and whenever a wedding takes place, the object passes on to the bride’s family, then it returns to the newly-established family after its first son is born. Costică, Băra and Peli’s father, is obsessed with his tahtai and his daughter-in-law Nina’s inability to have a son, which become the film’s main sources of conflict. Băra is in an arranged marriage with Nina’s brother, and the latter was married off to Peli, in an exchange of daughters. The latter couple’s apparently simple and happy lifestyle is thrown upside down when, four years after the arrangement, the girl still hasn’t given birth to a boy, and so ends up being constantly pressured by her alcoholic father-in-law, for whom the family chalice is the very object that defines his existence. A tradition which, in its essence, represents their history and culture, quickly turns into a painful reality, where girls sings songs about “and my daddy’s angry / because I’m not a boy” at their kindergarten celebrations, and wish that the next child in the family is born male.
Although not as revelatory, day-to-day actions such as the women’s shopping trips, their visits to the gynecologist, the mating of horses, the selling of chickens or bovines are just as captivating for curious spectators. And Cătălina Tesar excels in portraying climactic moments, but also lesser-intense ones, in a minority community that we share the same country with, while being fully ignorant of them. It’s admirable how the director manages to approach them and win their trust, even turning into their confidante. Thus, the two co-directors manage to bring the world of Cortorar Roma to the big screen for the very first time, with their sense of humor, charisma and colorful vocabulary, their specific language and their music, their fears and needs.
The film can be seen at the Astra Film Festival in Sibiu, on Sunday. You can find more details on the official website.
Student and critic. She is involved in the organization of a few film festivals and cultural events and works in different filmmaking projects.