We’d be tempted to believe that, having reached a stable point in one’s life, a man couldn’t wish for anything more. In fact, things aren’t always that simple and Amin knows it all too well: for him, freedom and happiness are fragile, elusive commodities that cannot be kept intact without considerable effort. After a dive into a happy childhood in the now-lost space of natal Afghanistan, Amin begins his story which pulled him out of the dream only to throw him into the dreary reality of war and the entire series of disasters that followed as a result. His father’s arrest and disappearance were only the triggers of a life started on the steep slope of adventure: the chaos of Russia in the 1990s, the challenges posed by the migration to the West, the doubts regarding his own sexual identity and its acceptance. The animation imperceptibly slips towards a documentary approach, while the director steps out of the convention as well and gets closer to the protagonist, in a gesture of empathy which no cinematic mechanism can prevent. In part therapy through cinema, in part confession, “Flee” is, above anything else, an essential memento on acceptance and the traumas caused by its absence. (Andreea Chiper)
AUDIO: Danish, English, Russian, Swedish, Dari
SUBTITLE: Romanian, English
awards and festivals
Bodil Prize 2022 - Best Documentary, Special Prize Sundance Film Festival 2021 -World Cinema Grand Jury Award: Documentary Götenborg Film Festival 2021 - Dragon Award Best Nordic Documentary Visions Du Réel 2021 - Audience Award Biografilm 2021 - Best Documentary, Audience Award Annecy Film Festival 2021 - Best Score by Uno Helmersson, The Gan Foundation & The Cristal Prize Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2021 – Best Documentary Jerusalem Film Festival 2021 - Special mention for Best International Film TIFF Canada 2021 - second runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentaries Viborg Animation Festival 2021 - Best Feature Film Nordic Council Film Prize 2021 New York Film Critics Online Awards 2021 - Best Documentary European Film Awards 2021 - University Film award, Animated Feature Film and Best Documentary International Documentary Association Awards 2021 - Best Documentary Against Gravity, Poland 2021 - Grand Prix Millennium Award, Best Film on Psychology & The Lower Silesia Grand Prix