This film made by Mohamed Jalaby is about as intense and harrowing as films can get. It is filmed largely from inside an ambulance in Gaza during the Israeli bombings of 2014. When I first read about this film, I knew I wanted, indeed needed, to see it. As much as City of Ghosts was a worthy documentary, to me it still sugared the pill about what was happening in the other hell-hole of Syria and remained too detached from events. Ambulance blows City of Ghosts out of the water. Sadly I think City of Ghosts will get all the plaudits and awards and Ambulance will have limited screenings and little publicity.
But it needs to be seen by everyone. It doesn’t take sides, it simply shows the horrific effects of the bombs and the sheer hell in which the Palestinians live. Yet they always maintain their dignity and stoicism. And even some humour.
This is the must-see documentary of the year. It does what all good documentaries should do. It documents. It is truly brave film-making in which the person behind the camera really did put his life on the line. It raises the bar in first-person reportage and documents unflinchingly what is happening in a part of the world in which the mainstream media sanitises, distorts, and lies. Will this be shown on the BBC? Somehow I think not.