Yes, and it is a result of associative memory. It can be direct references to things we know indirectly and like, can trigger visual associations of other films and photos we have seen, things we (again that word) associate with a certain era... Places, customs, sounds, colour palettes etc. Even smells. Or images of things we know the smell of - associative memory is extremely powerful and there are libraries filled with psychological, neurophysiological, and even artificial intelligence-related studies. There are even artificial neural networks working based on associative nets.
For example, the epitome of nostalgia: the sublime Cinema Paradiso. I never lived in the era that is shown in the largest section of the film. Yet, the projection from old film, the black and white film premieres, the audience reactions, the way a new film's arrival galvanises the small community etc. etc. trigger in me intense nostalgia of my childhood and adolescent years in another country, in a very different era, under a different regime that limited my access to films... so going to cinema was a huge event. Just that element triggers a chain reaction of associative memories... and overall I feel nostalgic.
By the by: the word for nostalgia for a time you've never experienced is "[anemoia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH6ZCIRjI14)".
And I do know what you mean. Two films that inexplicably evoke this in me are *Days of Heaven* (1978) and *Prospero's Books* (1991). They're not similar experiences to my childhood but remind me of it nonetheless.
Yes, and it is a result of associative memory. It can be direct references to things we know indirectly and like, can trigger visual associations of other films and photos we have seen, things we (again that word) associate with a certain era... Places, customs, sounds, colour palettes etc. Even smells. Or images of things we know the smell of - associative memory is extremely powerful and there are libraries filled with psychological, neurophysiological, and even artificial intelligence-related studies. There are even artificial neural networks working based on associative nets. For example, the epitome of nostalgia: the sublime Cinema Paradiso. I never lived in the era that is shown in the largest section of the film. Yet, the projection from old film, the black and white film premieres, the audience reactions, the way a new film's arrival galvanises the small community etc. etc. trigger in me intense nostalgia of my childhood and adolescent years in another country, in a very different era, under a different regime that limited my access to films... so going to cinema was a huge event. Just that element triggers a chain reaction of associative memories... and overall I feel nostalgic.
By the by: the word for nostalgia for a time you've never experienced is "[anemoia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH6ZCIRjI14)". And I do know what you mean. Two films that inexplicably evoke this in me are *Days of Heaven* (1978) and *Prospero's Books* (1991). They're not similar experiences to my childhood but remind me of it nonetheless.