Executive produced by actors Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Flee released its first trailer today. The documentary follows an Afghani man named Amin Nawabi, who has harbored a secret for 20 years that threatens to derail both his own life and the life of the man he’s about to marry.
From director Jonas Poher Rasmussen—Amin’s personal friend—Amin’s story of his journey fleeing from Afghanistan as a child refugee is told mostly through animated reenactments. After its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it was acquired for U.S., British, and French distribution by Neon, Curzon Artificial Eye and Haut et Court respectively. The film had been initially set for a world premiere at Cannes in 2020, but was pushed when the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film was included in Paste’s Top 10 Films of Sundance 2021, with Andy Crump writing that “Rasmussen isn’t using Amin to make suffering porn. He’s letting Amin tell his story his way. Animation only ultimately acts as a veneer. Even through the layers of artifice, what this movie shows us may be one of cinema’s most harrowing refugee stories.” Following Sundance, the film screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, winning the award for Best Feature Film.
A release date for the film has yet to be announced.
Watch the first trailer for Flee below: