Brides for sale Bulgarias Roma marriage market DW Documentary_1080p
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00:00I'm the only son in my family.
00:11I will respect tradition and will most certainly marry a Kalaichi girl.
00:26It would be nice to be free to go out like other girls, but Kalaichi customs don't allow
00:31that.
00:38Trivoditsy, a small town of a thousand inhabitants in southeast Bulgaria.
01:00This is where 21-year-old Maria lives with her parents and two siblings.
01:05Maria is a Roma with very special roots.
01:09She is one of some 18,000 Kalaichi, the clan of the tinsmiths.
01:19Maria's uncle Mitko and aunt Rosie have come to visit with their son Tani.
01:24Naturally, they too are Kalaichi.
01:31Maria's parents have gone to stay with relatives for a few days following the birth of a grand
01:35child.
01:36So this year, she'll be accompanied by her aunt and uncle for the biggest event in the
01:41life of a Kalaichi girl, the Bachkovo Bride Market.
01:47Seventeen-year-old Tani is also planning to look around for a bride at the fair.
01:52Maria, it is hoped, will catch the eye of a wealthy future husband.
01:58What should I put on for Bachkovo?
02:09I don't know.
02:10What shoes will you be wearing?
02:13No idea.
02:15Put the other dress on.
02:18Let's have a look.
02:19You had high-heeled sandals on.
02:22Try this dress, let's see.
02:27I'm not sure, perhaps.
02:32That's fine too.
02:36Or would you rather buy something new at the market in Asnovgrad?
02:40Yes, let's drive to Asnovgrad and have a look.
02:44That's how our traditions are.
02:46Every time we have to wear something new, everybody's excited because of Bachkovo.
02:51All the girls are preparing for it.
02:53In fact, we look forward to it all year.
02:58Maria has hardly any other chance to meet boys.
03:01Her parents are too afraid that she might lose her virginity.
03:05Then no Kalaichi man would marry her.
03:09Maria obtained her school-leaving certificate when she was 16.
03:13Not exactly commonplace for a Roma.
03:16For the time being, her parents determine how she lives her life.
03:20Later, those decisions will be taken by her husband.
03:25We want to be modern, but we're not allowed to.
03:28If we went to a disco without my parents' knowledge and came home at two or three in
03:32the morning, we'd be in real trouble.
03:36There would be problems.
03:38My parents would shout at me for going out without permission, which is forbidden.
03:43They would probably throw me out.
03:47Are we going to the market in Asenovgrad or what?
03:53Why is it taking you so long?
03:56Stop making up.
04:01You're pretty enough.
04:03You'll find a husband.
04:05Let's go.
04:12In times past, the Kalaichi community traveled throughout Bulgaria, repairing and tin-plating
04:18pots, especially copper pots.
04:22Today, many Kalaichi have a regular job and their own house.
04:27The clan are said to number around 18,000.
04:35Where possible, they like to demonstrate their relative prosperity, compared with other Roma,
04:41preferably in the form of a car made in Germany.
04:48We Kalaichi are spread all over Bulgaria.
04:51You'll find us in every region.
04:53Jambul, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Varna, Burgas, Sliven.
04:58We are scattered like stalks.
05:03The Kalaichi are open-minded with regard to modern developments.
05:07For young people, communicating via a smartphone or Facebook is completely normal.
05:13And young women are allowed to wear what they want, although this might simply be because
05:18the men's tastes have changed.
05:21I think it's better when girls dress in the modern style.
05:24They should wear dresses, trendy shoes and short skirts.
05:27I like it when a woman looks modern, wearing rhinestones, for example.
05:31And the skirt should definitely be short, so that I can see her legs.
05:35Clothes from the old days, like the ones my mother wears, are out of the question.
05:39Dresses and skirts that are extremely wide.
05:42I don't want my wife to be that old-fashioned.
05:49But when it comes to choosing a partner, the Kalaichi remain ultra-conservative.
05:54Marriages only take place within the community.
05:57The men have to pay the bride's parents a dowry of between 1 and 10,000 euros.
06:03The prettier the girl, and the better her reputation, the more she costs.
06:10Tani and his parents are also choosing new clothes for the big day.
06:18Have a look at this.
06:19What do you think?
06:21Rosie, do you reckon you can fit into that?
06:25You're as wide as a barn door.
06:27Just look at you.
06:28All the skirts here are a slim fit.
06:31How are you going to get into one?
06:40I don't have any problem with modern clothes.
06:42It was only maybe 10 years ago that young girls started dressing differently.
06:50When we were young, we didn't wear any short pants.
06:53This is how wide our skirts were.
06:55This wide.
06:56If I could find a tight skirt in my size, I would wear it.
07:00But I would feel embarrassed.
07:03I wouldn't allow her to wear it, no way.
07:07I'd also be embarrassed to take off my headscarf.
07:22Maria has finally found her new dress.
07:26It won't be her first bride market, but she has to appear in a new outfit every year,
07:31as again required by tradition.
07:50Acievo is just a few kilometres from where Maria lives.
07:59The Tenchev family are having breakfast.
08:03Rosie is preparing French toast.
08:05Teni, I'm ready.
08:08You can start, but be careful.
08:19Make sure the flame isn't too big.
08:23Teni heats up the pot with his father's Bunsen burner.
08:27From April to October, family life takes place outside under the veranda.
08:32The Tenchevs only use the house for sleeping.
08:35The annual bride fair is now only a few days away.
08:40I'll check my phone, right?
08:43Yes, do that.
08:44You know, Rosie, times have changed.
08:46In the past, we would wave to each other with a smile and say, hello, my love.
08:51Now the lad just types something on his phone.
08:54Back then, the price for a bride was still high, 15 or 30,000.
08:58I paid 30,000 left for Rosie.
09:02Quite.
09:04We went to her parents and I asked them if I could have her for that sum.
09:09We got married in 1988.
09:14And today, all modern people fall in love via Facebook.
09:17Incredible.
09:18But that's how it is now.
09:22Just look what happens on this Facebook.
09:23A woman already has three children, but she writes to another man and then falls in love
09:28with him.
09:31But his complaints fall on deaf ears.
09:34Teni is online round the clock, making arrangements to meet his friends and sometimes girls who
09:40are not Kalaidzhi.
09:42Right now, he's in touch with a young Bulgarian woman who has no idea about Teni's traditions.
09:54We can become friendly, but nothing serious can ever come of it.
09:58I'm an only son.
09:59If I had two or three brothers, if there were several boys in the family, I could perhaps
10:04even marry the girl.
10:05But I am my parents' only son.
10:08So I will respect tradition and marry a Kalaidzhi girl.
10:18Let me explain.
10:19If a daughter of mine wanted to marry someone from outside our clan, I would do everything
10:24to prevent it, irrespective of whether she were from another Roma clan or a Bulgarian.
10:37That's simply the way the men of our generation are.
10:41My character would never allow me to accept that.
10:44I couldn't handle it, no matter how beautiful she might be.
10:48If my son wanted to take just someone or other for his bride, I wouldn't permit it.
10:54I don't have any other sons, and I want tradition to be upheld.
11:00If we had five or six boys, I could perhaps accept a woman from outside.
11:05People would gossip and say, Mitko's got no money, Teni couldn't find a Kalaidzhi bride,
11:10or he doesn't want to choose anyone from the clan.
11:13People would find out that Teni had married an outsider, and then bring it up at every
11:18opportunity.
11:24Stara Zagora is a city in central Bulgaria.
11:28Just over a tenth of its population of 140,000 are Roma.
11:33As is customary, they live in their own quarter on the outskirts.
11:37While for some it may resemble a slum, many Roma live under worse conditions.
11:43But unemployment here stands at 80 percent.
11:51Located in the heart of the neighborhood is the office of the NGO World Without Borders.
11:56It's headed by Gancho Iliev, himself a Roma.
12:00He and his team carry out sociological studies and propose ideas on how the minority can
12:05be helped.
12:06The Roma generally don't accept offers like housing in anonymous apartment blocks or training
12:11programs for young women.
12:14Kalaidzhi constitute only a fraction of the population here, but a large part of Gancho's
12:18work focuses on this section of the Roma community.
12:23The Kalaidzhi are a relatively small group, but one with very particular traditions.
12:32They have always maintained the rigid custom of marrying only within their community.
12:40It is essential for the women to enter wedlock as virgins, and that has consequences.
12:48Unfortunately, our studies have revealed a range of genetic diseases, including disorders
12:55of the peripheral nervous system, epilepsy and muscular dystrophy.
13:04Gancho is working on a project to document the state of health of Stara Zagora's Roma
13:08population with the assistance of two medical assistants.
13:14Zvezda is likewise a Roma.
13:17Gancho has purposely sought her help because self-assertive, professional women are the
13:22exception in all Roma groups, and among the Kalaidzhi there are virtually none at all.
13:30In our experience, the Kalaidzhi are the group we have the most difficulty in getting through
13:35to because they reject virtually all outside opinions.
13:39I regard the way they behave towards their women as discrimination.
13:44Women are discriminated against first of all through their role in the family, and
13:48secondly because they are unable to play an active role in society.
13:52This is the 21st century, in an age of advanced technology, and it's unacceptable that women
14:01should be restricted to such a degree, that they lack even the basic knowledge and the
14:06simplest of skills for participating in the labor market.
14:16In the case of the Roma of Stara Zagora, real day-to-day problems are also an issue, makeshift
14:22streets that had no planning permission.
14:25So they are not connected to the water supply or sewage systems.
14:29Meanwhile, poverty and drug abuse are fueling the spread of hepatitis, AIDS and tuberculosis.
14:37Around 15% of Roma here suffer from one of those diseases.
14:41No one has health insurance.
14:44The local authorities have sent a van with medical equipment and two doctors to take
14:48blood samples.
14:53Gancho and his assistants encourage residents to be examined.
14:58People know them and trust them.
15:06Back in the small town of Hachievo, we find Mitko demonstrating the tradition which first
15:12gave the clan its name.
15:14The Kalaji were unable to prevent the tinsmith trade from dying out.
15:18Today, Mitko is rarely asked to repair or tinplate a copper pot.
15:30First of all, he scrubs off soot and dirt using hydrochloric acid.
16:01When we were young, we repaired all sorts of things, coffee pots, pans and kettles.
16:09We did everything by hand.
16:11The machines that are around today were not available back then.
16:16We did everything by hand using hammers and tongs.
16:19And there was work for every one of us, no matter where we came from.
16:25We could also go to the market with kettles, jugs and pots, and were always able to sell them.
16:31Nowadays, it's a lot more difficult.
16:44Back then, we used to travel from village to village.
16:46I would simply go up to a house, introduce myself and ask if they had any pots and pans
16:51that need repairing.
16:53Then I'd do the job.
16:54There was lots of work for us.
16:57Today, maybe 3% of my income still comes from tinsmithing.
17:02People have thrown away most of their copper receptacles.
17:05Only a few people still use copper pans and pots for making aiva, for example.
17:24We, Kalaji, are prepared to look for work.
17:37Say I had nothing to do for five days, I'd get into my car and drive around the villages
17:42looking for work.
17:51Only all the men amongst the Kalaji have had to diversify.
17:55Today, they install guttering, a job where their metalworking skills come in handy.
18:08The work enables Mitko to feed his family, but it's not exactly his dream job.
18:15If I had enough to do as a tinsmith, I certainly wouldn't work on roofs.
18:23If I were to fall off, who would look after my wife and the children?
18:27I wouldn't wish a job like this on anyone.
18:30Tani is studying forestry.
18:33He'd like to become a forest warden in a national park.
18:36His attitude towards working on roofs is more relaxed, because he's not forced to do it.
18:44I'll decide in my own good time whether to do this or go into forestry.
18:48I just want to be able to feed my family, earn money and buy clothes.
18:52As long as I have money coming in, it doesn't really matter what I do.
19:05The Kalaji's big day has arrived.
19:07The bride market is held on a Sunday in late summer.
19:11The Tenchev family are leaving to pick up Maria, their niece.
19:24Then they all set off for Bachkovo Monastery in the Rodopi Mountains, 50 kilometers away.
19:35The annual bride fair is held on a parking area at the foot of the monastery, an iconic
19:40site for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
19:43But beforehand, everyone checks their appearance one last time.
19:48This is already part of the ritual.
19:56We Kalaji women love to make up.
19:59Ever since my grandmother's day, we've powdered ourselves and carefully made up to look as
20:04light-skinned as possible.
20:06Then we go to the gathering in Bachkovo to present ourselves.
20:11The most important thing is for us to be made up.
20:15Everyone wants a wife with a lighter complexion, because that is more beautiful.
20:20That is why we do it.
20:24The event is now getting underway.
20:27Kalaji are arriving from all over Bulgaria, up to 5,000 Roma.
20:32Mitko and his family enjoy a fine reputation, as we can see from the way they are greeted.
20:46Respect is worth a lot of money.
20:48Teni will have to offer less for his dream bride.
20:51However, he has yet to find her.
20:56No one knows exactly when or how the bride market originated.
21:00The older folks say the tradition is at least a hundred years old.
21:04But the opportunity for Kalaji to organize a meeting in advance is definitely of more
21:10modern origin.
21:13The girls who are more to my liking haven't arrived yet.
21:16We got in touch with one another via Facebook, and they said they would be coming here.
21:20So I'm still expecting someone.
21:31The Kalaji Bride Market is a marriage of authorized flirting and speed dating.
21:36It takes place every year on the last Sunday in August.
21:39The date and the venue are fixed.
21:42Everything else is more or less spontaneous.
21:45Or not.
21:46The youngest of the potential brides and grooms are not even 15 years old.
21:52This is the only time of the year that they are allowed to size one another up and flirt
21:57to their heart's desire.
21:59If a young man is smitten, and initially that is enough, he makes his dream bride's parents
22:04an offer.
22:06This is followed by lengthy negotiations.
22:08Only then can a wedding take place.
22:15How much has he saved for her, a woman asks.
22:18A lot.
22:20But how much is a lot?
22:22The young man doesn't want to say.
22:26Someone in the group wants to know the exact sum.
22:30100 euros, the young man jokes.
22:34Only 100 euros?
22:36She's not that ugly, the woman claims.
22:39How much did he really offer?
22:46In truth, 10,000 euros.
22:53The girl I know hasn't turned up.
22:55I had actually planned to meet her here and steal her away.
22:59I drove here especially in my parents' Mercedes to do that.
23:05But she has stayed at home.
23:09Why steal her?
23:10Couldn't you go to her house and ask for her hand?
23:14Her parents want me to pay too much.
23:18Some men do indeed try to seduce their dream bride in a car or in the forest.
23:23If a girl loses her virginity to a man, he gets her for next to nothing, because no other
23:29man would ever marry her.
23:31Since Maria's father can't be present today, Mitko has assumed responsibility for ensuring
23:37she stays untouched.
23:39This year, the Bochkovo bride market doesn't really get going.
23:44Instead of the customary several thousand visitors, only a few hundred Roma have turned
23:49up.
23:50There are rumors going around that in the neighboring village, a nationalist motorcycle
23:53gang have blocked the main road.
23:56That's why there's hardly anyone here, and we're also leaving.
24:02Last year, the place was packed.
24:04Our girlfriends haven't even turned up.
24:09But Maria still has to expect an offer of marriage.
24:12In the past, if the offer was high enough, Kalaidzhi women were forced into wedlock.
24:19If parents try that today, they risk their daughter running away.
24:23Even though her life as a housewife remains pre-programmed, Maria is at least allowed
24:28to choose her husband herself.
24:34The rumor about the biker gang proves to be true.
24:37On Facebook, the news spreads like wildfire.
24:40The fear is that the gang could attack the bride market.
24:44As a result, the event breaks up.
24:46There's been a bit of flirting, but the time was too brief for serious negotiations.
24:52I've met a few young men, but a lot more haven't turned up.
24:57I really wanted to enjoy myself today, so I'm very disappointed.
25:03I didn't find any girl I liked.
25:06This time, there was no one that I fancied.
25:15But I'll keep on looking.
25:16I'm still young.
25:17I haven't even turned 18.
25:19Then I'll find someone.
25:21I'm certain of it.
25:22I'm the only son, so one day I will find a pretty bride.
25:26But it is not only right-wing biker gangs that threaten the bride market.
25:31The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via
25:36smartphones and Facebook.
25:39Another Kalaji tradition that is crumbling, despite changing with the times.
26:09I'm still young.
26:10I'm certain of it.
26:11I'm the only son, so one day I will find a pretty bride.
26:12But it is not only right-wing biker gangs that threaten the bride market.
26:13The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via
26:14smartphones and Facebook.
26:15The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via
26:16Facebook.
26:17The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via
26:18Facebook.
26:19The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via Facebook.
26:20The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via
26:21Facebook.
26:22The biggest threat is the desire for self-determination, which is spreading amongst young Roma via
26:23Facebook.