The story centres around the team of Sofia‘s (Bulgaria) emergency medical service: middle-aged doctor Krassimir (Krassi) Yordanov, chatterbox paramedic Mila Mikhailova and driver Plamen Slavkov. In a city where 13 ambulances struggle to serve 2 million people, Krassi, Mila and Plamen are our unlikely heroes: chain-smoking, filled with humour and relentlessly saving lives against all odds. Yet, the strain of a broken system is taking its toll. How long can they keep on fixing society’s injured until they loose their empathy? Filmed over a period of two years, director Ilian Metev‘s documentary film “Sofia's Last Ambulance” reveals the real lives and professional activities of medical personnel. The film is an ironic and authentic story on workplace relations under extreme conditions, and it also provides indirect commentary on the state of the society.

 

Awards:
 

2012 – France 4 Visionary Award in the International Critics’ Week section at the Cannes International Film Festival (France).

2012 – Best Documentary Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czech Republic).

2012 – Best Balkan Documentary Award at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival Dokufest (Prizren, Serbia).

 

About the director:
 

Ilian Metev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1981. He initially pursued a career as a concerting violinist and became obsessed with melding musical form and film language. He went on to study Fine Art in London, followed by an MA in Documentary Direction at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, United Kingdom. His graduation film “Goleshovo” (2008) has been screened at over 60 festivals and received 17 awards, including a BBC Documentaries Development Award, the Don Quixote Award at the Krakow Film Festival (Poland) and the Talent Dove at the DOK Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (Germany). “Sofia’s Last Ambulance” is I. Metev‘s first feature film. It was screened in the International Critics’ Week section at the Cannes International Film Festival (France) and won the France 4 Visionary Award for new talent in the film industry.