Echoes of Al-Andalus: historical memory and Muslim legacy in visual historiography

This article comparatively examines the documentaries In Search of My Roots (2021) and Resilient Souls: Stories of Spanish Muslims (2023). These documentaries problematize dominant narratives about Islam’s presence in Spain through documenting journeys of rediscovery and spiritual transformation. In Search for My Roots uses the first-person investigative mode to unearth the protracted legacy of the Moriscos, whereas Resilient Souls sheds light on contemporary Spanish converts to Islam and their communities. Both documentaries reimagine Muslim identity not as being imported and external, but rather as intimately woven in the Spanish cultural fabric. Through bringing these documentaries into discussion, this article examines how they both negotiate and problematize questions of historical erasure, Islamic heritage, and embodied faith through different documentary strategies such as on-location interviews, archival retrieval, participatory observation, and autobiographical voiceover. Drawing on documentary and memory studies, this article argues that these films reconstruct overlooked genealogies of Muslim belonging and challenge persistent notions of cultural purity. They provide a vision of Spain as historically and presently plural. The article positions these documentaries as interventions into Spain’s ongoing struggle with its Islamic past and the visibility of its Muslim present, and as contributions to a broader reimagining of European identity in the 21st century.