The Boundaries of Self-writing in Women’s Cinema: an analysis of the film Nobody (2023), by Marcela Jacobina

Abstract

The history of women in art is marked by their invisibility and erasure of the position of the feminine as a creative power, so that the place provided and offered falls under the veil of the muses – this, when it is even considered. Consequently, denying spaces of creation and representation leads to the evident annulment of women. In recent decades, the so-called feminine look has been examined, often mistakenly generalized. Thus, there is the need, still latent, to discuss the representation of women in cinema, and what exactly would be the cinematography of women. Thus, discussing self-representation in cinematographic creation turns out to be a fundamental perspective by allowing the investigation of the possibilities of female identity reconfiguration, at the same time lecturing about their resulting singular creative processes imbued with power. Thus, and from the aesthetic and poetic possibilities of women’s cinematography and self-writing, this research aims to present an analysis of the film Nobody (2023), by Marcela Jacobina. The exercise of autofiction through the approach of the director and actress brings a different look at the possibilities of representation of women in cinema. Research developed under the project "Speculum – Filming and looking at oneself in the mirror: the use of self-writing by Portuguese-speaking documentary filmmakers" (FCT: EXPL/ART-CRT/0231/2021).