FLEE

Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, 2021, Denmark, 89 minutes, rated PG13 for thematic content, animated documentary, in Danish, English, Dari, Russian and Swedish with English Subtitles.

In FLEE, the Grand Jury Prize winner at last year’s Sundance Festival, filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen tells a poignant story of belonging and the search for identity. Amin’s life has been defined by his past and a secret he’s kept for over 20 years. Forced to leave his home country of Afghanistan as a young child with his mother and siblings, Amin now grapples with how his past will affect his future in Denmark and the life he is building with his soon-to-be husband. Told brilliantly through the use of animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his life, opening up for the first time about his past, his trauma, the truth about his family, and his acceptance of his own sexuality.

Depicting the refugee experience through vivid animation, Flee pushes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking to present a moving memoir of self-discovery.

There will be a discussion directly following the film. Details will be announced soon.

Academy Award Nominee: Best Animated Film Academy Award Nominee: Best Documentary Film Academy Award Nominee: Best Foreign Film

"Flee" morphs from a tale of dispossession to a testament to the power of narrative - to overtake a life, and to liberate it. – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

An intimate portrait of the lasting traumas of displacement and one of the most humane films of the year. – Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times

The year's most inventive animated adventure mixes graphic design with documentary realism and puts hallucinatory brilliance at the service of understanding the continuing psychic damage of war. You'll never forget it. – Peter Travers, ABC News

The film, heightened by haunting, sometimes surreal animated sequences, helps us understand why solitude threatened to be his permanent state, and how a refugee's flight can devastate the strongest spirit and shut down a tender one. – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“ ‘Home — what does it mean to you?” That’s the question that hovers over “Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s piercing animated documentary about a high school friend of his who emigrated from Afghanistan to Denmark as a teenager.” Critic’s Pick – A. O. Scott, The New York Times