“My Mother’s Not an Actress.” Images of Intimacy in Galician Cinema

Abstract

In recent years, different disciplines have experienced what has been labelled as an “affective turn,” where intimate experiences and emotions have gained prominence in both academic research and creative practices. Cinema has not been an exception to this tendency, as digital technologies (and Internet culture) have eased access to self-expression and fostered a renewed interest in portraying previously marginalized and peripheral identities.

As a peripheral nation, Galician culture – and cinema in particular – has been substantially involved in processes that show the presence of this affective turn. Landmark films of Novo Cinema Galego (New Galician Cinema) address collective experiences, such as emigration, from a personal perspective. Many filmmakers, including Marta Valverde, Eloy Domínguez Serén, or Antía Carreira, have combined the traditions of personal cinema with new displays of intimacy like selfies and other social media techniques. This article examines the different modes of enunciation they employ to convey intimacy – diaries, correspondences, self-portraits, and the remixing of personal archive material – and explores how these practices relate to the prevailing production conditions in minor and small cinemas.