Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.
Written and Directed by: Luke Lorentzen
Featuring: Fer Ochoa, Josue Ochoa, Juan Ochoa
“Mexico City has fewer than 45 government ambulances for 9 million people.” That’s a scary proposition when you consider what happens if an emergency happens.
The Ochoas are as hardworking as anyone in Mexico City. As Documentarian Luke Lorentzen quickly establishes though, they are struggling to make ends meet in the fiercely competitive for-profit field of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) who support the needs of a thriving community.
The tax revenue that Mexico City provides for emergency medical services can offer only so much support, and have limited resources to respond. In its place, people like the Ochoas spend much of their late nights and early mornings on a side street, glued to a CB radio for notices of patients in need.
Interestingly, their time is spent in a more affluent part of Mexico City where the patients can afford to pay directly out of pocket. As the nights go by though, the Ochoas encounter challenges with getting the patients to pay up. They aren’t confrontational about the need for payment; they are still focused on getting the best possible health care for their patients, finding the right hospitals.
Lorentzen contrasts the type of patients the Ochoas find with their own financial struggles. At one point, the cost of operating the ambulance, even after being detained illegally by the Mexico City police and having to pay a fine to get themselves out of trouble for not having the correct supplies on board, is even a factor.
“Midnight Family” not only exposes the Ochoas’ financial plight, but the lack of governance over these programs as the police enforce lax and or changing policies that the Ochoas simply cannot keep up with. The Ochoas make the best of the situation though and that’s the most endearing trait – they are a true family unit watching out for one another.
Even as they struggle, their reaction time to a call was exceptionally fast. “Midnight Family” explores the competitiveness of the cottage private ambulance industry as the Ochoas rely on technology and, ultimately, each other to outwit the competition through back streets deep in Mexico City.
Lorentzen also acts as his own cinematographer, which won him acclaim from the film’s Sundance premiere a year ago. His editing along with that of his co-editor Paloma López really heightens the tension between the race to take care of a patient and the issues that make their lives that much more challenging.
“Midnight Family” offers hope that there are better ways of taking care of its citizens. For the Ochoas there is a satisfaction in the struggle, but we know it wears on them. For the citizens of Mexico City, and the government, support is available when resources are stretched to their limit.
3 out of 4 stars
