Midnight Family

Red and blue lights are aimlessly reflected on a windscreen. 17-year-old Juan Ochoa is sitting at the wheel of an ambulance, intently listening to the police radio. Sirens screech, engines start, there is nervous screaming and we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a race against time through the heavy traffic of Mexico City. There are only 45 ambulances for 9 million inhabitants – that is all this city has to offer. In a bid to help themselves, private people jump into the breach to do what the state can only sparingly provide: save lives. With this mission in mind and their red ambulance, the friendly Ochoa family make their nightly rounds through the streets of the city. They have to hope for accidents – and for patients willing to pay the rescuers. Young director Luke Lorentzen captures the personal life of an unusual family and the ever so slightly dodgy business of saving lives with intrepid camerawork. Candid perspectives place us amidst a struggle for survival of both patient and Samaritan.