Flee: animated film and documentary in one: As a child, a future academic fled from Afghanistan to Denmark and recounts his escape for the first time.
Film plot and background
Amin Nawabi is an academic living in Denmark. His wedding to his partner is imminent, but in his heart he carries a secret he has never shared with anyone, until now.
Amin was granted asylum in Denmark 25 years ago, befriended Jonas Poher Rasmussen, who later became a filmmaker. They went to school together, listened to the same songs, did sports together and stood at the same bus stop every morning. However, Amin only tells us in detail about the long journey he had to make to this bus stop to a safe new home shortly before his wedding.
The trailer in the original language with English subtitles shows his horrendous escape:
“Flee” – Backgrounds
To preserve his identity while still ensuring he could tell his story from his own mouth, the two childhood friends chose the form of an animated documentary. The name Amin Nawabi is a pseudonym, but the voice you hear in the film is his real one. This allows him to tell his story while maintaining his anonymity and that of his family.
Growing up in Afghanistan, he had to flee the war and stopped off in Moscow. Under a false name and for fear of not being granted asylum otherwise, he was finally able to go into hiding in Denmark. The pictures show his past in Kabul and Moscow, the conversations between Amin and Jonas and how the former refugee is trying to build a home in Denmark with permanence in the here and now. Some of the scenes from the past were shot in a dramatised way.
“Flee” at the Oscars 2022
It’s a minor miracle that “Waltz with Bashir” was once denied: “Flee” is eligible for three entirely different categories at the 2022 Oscars, the first film in the awards show’s history to do so: Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature and Best International Film (for Denmark) – and promptly picked up a nomination in each of the three categories. After numerous awards at the biggest film festivals such as Sundance 2021 and Annecy 2021, the film team can now hope for a golden boy in the three categories.
