A stylish film noir with allegorical intent, A New Dawn encapsulates the tensions of its time between conservatism and a renewal of revolutionary ideals. “It was the first Mexican motion picture to focus upon life as a phenomenon in which two forces come together: love and solidarity” (Salvador Elizondo). Andrea Palma's Julieta is a cabaret singer who reconnects with an old lover and fellow activist from their university days, Octavio (Pedro Armendáriz), now a labor organizer. Octavio enlists Julieta's help in finding stolen documents that will indict a corrupt governor in the murder of a union leader. After a night of intrigue, in reverse-Casablanca mode, she must choose between activist Octavio and her disenchanted husband. One of the most distinguished films of a great year for Mexican cinema, 1943, A New Dawn couches its polemics in the policier style, a look at the urban side of cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa.