Film short abstract:

Peli & Nina are a couple from a traditional Roma community, cradle of aristocratic marriage rituals. Parents to a little girl, they strive to birth a son, or else their arranged union ends. This is so because only boys inherit the family’s badge, the chalice.

Film long abstract:

The film takes the viewer straight into the heart of a traditional Roma community from Transylvania that allows for little freedom in how people choose to live their lives. Local culture compels everyone here to follow a predictable trajectory, namely, to marry and produce offspring. The families contract marital alliances for their offspring negotiating dowries and inheritances. Marital ties can only endure if the new couple gives birth to a male heir. That’s because only boys can inherit the family’s badge, the chalice - a silver cup bequeathed by ancestors. Conversely, the birth of a daughter causes her parents to pay large cash dowries in order to marry her off. For this reason, women often resort to sex-selective abortions. When a marriage is arranged, the groom’s chalice is trusted onto the bride’s family until the couple has a son who will inherit it.

The documentary follow Peli and Nina, a young couple striving to conceive a son in order to comply with local custom. While they live under tremendous strain and keep taking fertility and ultrasound checks, their respective families are disputing their rights in the chalice pledged by Peli’s father to Nina’s family when they arranged the couple’s match. The intricacies of this marriage are teased out by Peli’s sister, Bara, who provides a gripping confession about the lived female condition in this community. As we impatiently wait for the resolution of the conflict, the film invites us to reflect on women’s resilience in a male-dominated society.