SUSTRAIAK, raíces perdidas.

A climbing gym, a Spanish lesson, preparations for a day on the rock. SUSTRAIAK, raíces perdidas follows Hiba, Bachir and Manan, three young people who arrived in Europe as teenagers and live in Navarre. Luis Arrieta Etxeberria accompanies their days through exercise, work and conversations about family, as each tries to organise their future.

Climbing is an activity they share through the KIDEAK programme. In the gym they practise movements and holds; outdoors, ropes, belaying and assistance from their companions become part of the activity. Preparing equipment, looking for a handhold and waiting for the person climbing are recurring actions in the story. Their outings also include walking and moments when the group stops to talk.

Hiba brings a background in judo. Looking back on her story, she recalls competitions and the period after her arrival in Europe, when she had stopped training and studying. In the present, the film follows her on the climbing wall and during phone calls to her mother. Work at Rocópolis, waiting for documents and the wish to see her family again in Morocco sit alongside her sporting activity.

Bachir prepares a meal with friends, practises bouldering and talks about volunteering. He also recounts his night-time boat journey from Tangier. In conversation, learning the language and the possibility of studying intertwine with missing home. The gym and mountain outings are among the places where he meets people to train and spend time with.

Manan traces his route from Ghana to Spain on a map, passing through several African countries and then Italy and France. Alongside Spanish lessons come work in a kitchen and another sporting skill to learn: swimming. He enters the pool before he knows how to swim and undertakes exercises in the water, while describing the fear associated with his sea crossing.

The documentary moves between these paths and their everyday spaces: the city, the kitchen, the pool, the gym and the mountains. The protagonists’ accounts accompany what they do in the present. Documents, education and work remain part of their conversations, alongside relationships with people far away and those they have met in Navarre.

Produced by LA DOCFILMS, the film is directed by Luis Arrieta Etxeberria, a filmmaker and climber whose previous work includes Mendiak 1976. The writing is credited to Arrieta and Daniel Burgui Iguzkiza. SUSTRAIAK brings together three stories in which climbing forms part of the commitments, friendships and choices of adult life.