Home movies, more than memories: audiovisual relics of family report

Family films not only preserve our own memories, but act as authentic reliquaries of report, as capsules capable of moving even those who do not know their protagonists. The article by Lourdes Esqueda, professor at the School of Communication of the University of Navarra, has been selected among the finalists of the Annual Philosophy of Film Awards of the University of Edinburgh. 

In "Home Movies as Reliquaries of Memory: A Phenomenological Perspective", Esqueda proposes an original reading of home movies: she defines them as "reliquariesof report", capable of preserving intimate and authentic moments of the family past. Through a phenomenological approach , the author analyzes how these images, although recorded by and for family members, can generate recognition, nostalgia and identification in any viewer: "It is not necessary to know those who appear on the screen to feel that we are in front of something valuable and real," explains Esqueda. Family films, he says, do not seek to tell a story or document an event, but to capture the essence of everyday life: a spontaneous laugh, an awkward hug, a birthday without a script.

His proposal challenges the classical theories that limit the emotional effect of these films to the private sphere. On the contrary, Esqueda argues that the domestic aesthetics, the closeness to the camera and the lack of artifice turn these recordings into authentic time capsules that awaken in us a connection between them and our own memories, generating the "home cinema effect" in the viewer. "Watching these films - even without knowing the protagonists - is like looking inside a memory box that could be our own," he concludes.

This work is part of the research project "Domestic cinema in Spain", funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and opens new ways for the cultural revaluation of family archives, both in museums and in contemporary audiovisual productions.

On home cinema research

Home cinema can be defined as any film made around family activities, from everyday and leisure activities (with vacations as a classic topic ) to special moments (a baptism, First Communion, etc.). They are filmed and starred by family members to be seen later by their own protagonists, without a post-production or commercialization process. The research on home cinema in Spain seeks to study its life cycle after being filmed, from its preservation to its contemporary appropriation by filmmakers and videomakers.