Directed by: Cătălina Tesar & Dana Bunescu
Romania, 2022, 85’
Festivals: Astra Film Festival - Best Romanian Documentary
Q&A with co-director, editor and sound designer Dana Bunescu
Romania’s most esteemed editor and sound designer Bunescu and expert anthropologist Tesar join forces in chronicling the fascinating universe of the traditional Roma community called ‘cortorari’ and their convoluted marriage rituals. The wedding alliance revolves around the family heirloom, the eponymous silver cup serving as clan emblem and status symbol. Although the bride’s family ought to pay a cash dowry to the groom’s parents, there’s a catch: the bride’s father gets to keep the groom’s chalice until the young couple succeeds in having a baby boy. What follows is the engaging endeavor of one such couple to birth a son, complete with the simmering feud between their families, in this raw and revealing documentary about how generations old customs may shape new destinies.
Thursday, Nov. 23, 20:00, Cinema Arta, Arad