As the granddaughter of a Roma king, ten-year-old Nicoleta will later live in her own marble palace, just as her grandmother, mother, and aunt do. One day she will raise her children there, a shiny car will be parked in the driveway, and her future husband will be the breadwinner, earning his income in the outside world. These are the traditions Nicoleta is growing up with in her secluded Kalderash community in Romania.
Seen through the eyes of the curious Nicoleta, this fairytale is also revealed as a life full of restrictions. She asks herself what life is like for girls outside, who are allowed to stay in school longer and don’t get married at fourteen. While still playing with her Barbies, Nicoleta watches her mother Anca (25), and her aunt Regina (15) navigate their roles within the patriarchal community.
While Regina is eagerly looking forward to a future with her fiancé, Anca is struggling under the control of her domineering husband. In intimate spaces that are normally closed to outsiders—and especially to cameras—Nicoleta catches a glimpse of her own future: part of a close-knit community, but confined within a gilded cage.
