'Sofia's Last Ambulance' Debuts in Bulgaria, Hopes to Inspire Change

Bulgarian audience will finally have the chance to watch the critically acclaimed documentary "Sofia's Last Ambulance".

The keenly awaited debut has been scheduled at 7 pm at Lumiere Cinema on Monday evening as part of the Kinomania movie festival.

Earlier this month "Sofia's Last Ambulance" won Award for Best Director at the Festival dei Populi in Florence, the "Award for Best Documentary Film" at the 14th International Film Festival in Bratislava, the Silver Dove at one of Europe's most respected documentary film festivals, the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film - DOK Leipzig.

"Sofia's Last Ambulance" is a documentary by Ilian Metev about Bulgaria's capital Sofia and staff at its ambulances struggling to keep up with their workload. It premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2012 (Critics' Week), where it won the "Visionary Award". It was the second documentary ever to compete in the section's 51 year history.

In his gripping documentary, Ilian Metev offers a highly authentic look at the exhausting and often frustrating work of Sofia's three-member ambulance crews as they rush to save the lives of people in need in the Bulgarian capital.

Owing to the low earnings of the crumbling health care system, a mere 13 ambulances now handle all the work demanded by a city of two million.

So despite their best efforts, charismatic Dr. Yordanov, nurse Mila, and driver Plamen sometimes get to their patients four hours late.

The movie follows the crew over the course of a 48hour shift, allowing viewers (with the help of a camera mounted on the ambulance dashboard) to share the ins and outs of their demanding work.

Dramatic situations – saving a life or a collision with an inattentive driver – are intermingled with short cinematic moments of relaxation over a cigarette and a funny story.

An exclusive interview with "Sofia's Last Ambulance" director Ilian Metev for Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) can be read HERE