Aro berria – roughly translated as “new era” in English – is the feature debut by Irati Gorostidi, presented in the New Directors section of the 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival. It continues – or perhaps expands on – the short film Contadores (which had its world premiere in the Cannes Critics’ Week). That short was a detailed and highly engaging reconstruction of the workers’ assemblies at San Sebastián’s water-meter factory, where they discussed a strategy to negotiate the collective agreement that would govern their working conditions. The feature delves into this pivotal historical moment for Gipuzkoa’s working class and recounts what happened when it came to an end.

Gorostidi focuses on a specific group of workers – those most ambitious in using the new labour conditions as a tool to transform society radically from the ground up. When weeks of strikes and protests culminate in the signing of an agreement that fails to live up to their expectations, some decide to leave their jobs and head for the mountains. There, they will found a community that will serve as a base for building a fairer, freer and more egalitarian society. What the film relates is very much a historical recreation. The director has been researching this subject for years – it has been at the centre of several of her previous works. Her interest also stems from the alternative community her parents belonged to shortly before she was born.

Gorostidi’s command of the material is matched by the mastery and boldness with which she constructs the cinematic apparatus that tells the story. Working with a superb ensemble of largely unfamiliar faces – and drawing on production design and costumes that recreate the period with remarkable fidelity – Aro berria transports us to a time and place that prove riveting. The journey prompts questions whose echoes resound loudly in today’s world. Job insecurity and the exploitation of the working class remain ever-present. Spiritual exploration along paths outside Western tradition – as well as models of living that challenge the structure of the conventional family – are increasingly common and widespread. Perhaps the moment explored by Aro berria was a kind of seminal experience that is still sending out new shoots. In any case, looking back to examine that group’s motivations is a highly compelling exercise.

In this recreation of a reality that is so stimulating – and curiously so little known – the way in which the dynamics of the emotional, psychological and sexual challenges that the protagonists had to face are reconstructed is especially astonishing. The cast’s commitment and courage are admirable, and the honesty and grace with which Gorostidi – supported by the cinematography of Ion de Sosa – captures those indescribable, fascinating moments deserve applause.

Aro berria was produced by Apellániz y Sosa and Sr. y Sra. Producciones.