Cinema as a Reflection of Cultural Identity: Portugal and Slovenia as Small European Film Industries

Abstract

This article examines cinema as a key site for the articulation and negotiation of cultural identity, using a comparative analysis of Portugal and Slovenia as small European film industries operating within global audiovisual structures. In this study, cultural identity is understood as a broader, dynamic framework encompassing symbolic practices, narratives, and meanings, within which national identity functions as one historically and institutionally grounded articulation. Focusing on Portugal and Slovenia, this article analyses how linguistic diversity, regional narratives, and institutional frameworks sustain cultural specificity despite economic and structural vulnerabilities. This study employs a comparative qualitative case study design that combines a systematic literature review (SLR), conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines, and a close textual analysis of exemplar films from the two countries. The findings reveal that Portuguese cinema rearticulates cultural identity through postcolonial memory, lusophone connections, and auteur traditions, while Slovenian cinema foregrounds post-socialist transition, nationalism, and European integration. Both cases underscore the resilience of small cinemas: they rely on public funding mechanisms administered through national film agencies and EU support frameworks, while transforming resource limitations into aesthetic innovation and preserving linguistic and cultural diversity under global market pressures. The analysis concludes that small cinemas, though structurally constrained, function as vital laboratories of cultural resilience, offering unique perspectives that resist homogenization and enrich global film culture.