Home Movies: Records of Intimacy

The film portrays a moment where the family has fun with the camera itself. As spectators, we see that moments in the scene are captured by different members of the same family during filming.

The spontaneity in front of the camera reveals the closeness between the person filming and the subjects being filmed. Family fun is evident in the footage.

The scenes of leisure in this film resemble the present: thousands of Cariocas still frequent the waterfalls dispersed throughout the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The invention of domestic cameras, aimed at the general public, increased the recording of moving images. It also influenced the means of production and participation of those filming and those being filmed, as well as the reception of the images by the family and the public.

Relatively accustomed to still images (photographs), it is noticeable that whenever possible, those being filmed move. The recent popularization of the Pathé-Baby shows the strangeness of that device that captured movements on its film.

Revisiting these images grants us access to new perspectives on memory and history, both in individual and collective contexts. The contrast between the past and the present becomes evident.