An upstart paramedic Ollie Cross courses through adrenaline-fueled nights in an ambulance for the New York City Fire Department in Brownsville, Brooklyn while spending days studying for med-school exams in a Chinatown hovel. Working alongside seasoned first responder Gene Rutkovsky, Cross discovers firsthand the chaos and awe of a job that careens from harrowing to heartfelt, and occasionally stretches into ethical ambiguity. Furthering his examination of violence inside institutions and among close-knit groups, French filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire turns his unflinching and inquisitive eye on his adopted hometown of New York City in all its ragged glory. Sauvaire concocts a visceral and immersive thriller out of the complex and grueling lives of emergency medical technicians and the everyday people they live to save.

Q&A for Black Flies