My Mexican Bretzel

Nuria Giménez's 2020 Spanish film is built from amateur footage left by the director's grandfather. The images span the fifties to the seventies: Switzerland, coastlines, air travel and family gatherings. There is no sound. Instead, extracts from a woman's diary appear on screen; the text speaks of marriage, illness and a secret affair. Image and text do not confirm one another. That gap is the real subject. The diary was written by the director; the documentary pairs real material with an invented narrative and does not announce it to the viewer. The structure takes up how memory is constructed. Who it's for: those who like experimental documentary and films built from archive. Who it's not for: viewers expecting factual information from documentary; the film invents its narrative deliberately.