“Midnight Family,”
a documentary presented at the Sundance Film Festival , follows the life of a family in Mexico Cit y that earns a living by driving a private ambulance. The film offers a look into the Mexican capital’s health system, but also into the lives and personal experiences of members of the Ochoa family .
“I met them at the corner of the apartment building where I was staying,” said the American Luke Lorentzen , the film director.
“I was intrigued and asked them if I could spend a night with them to learn more about their work. I was fascinated by this sort of ambulance underworld,” he added.
Faced with the scarcity of public ambulances in Mexico City, one of the largest and most populated cities in the world , many people have started their own business with healthcare vehicles.
Lorentzen commented that they had to set some limits during the filming process.
“The most important part was deciding that the faces and identities of the patients were not to be revealed. We weren’t very interested in the accidents themselves. However, there are moments where we break the rule because I think it is also important to show how intense these situations can get,” he stated.
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