Flee

A far too familiar tale of persecution and corruption, as Amin generously reveals the trials and torments that saw him and his family flee Kabul because of victimisation, alongside his personal story that saw him make a life in Denmark and how he's been able to live his life the way he wishes, with who he wants - heart wrenching stuff indeed.

Fleeing Taliban's Afghanistan in the latter part of the last century would seem the proper subject for film or video, capturing the reality of flight from oppression to freedom. Actually, in Flee, a documentary-animation with shades of color and earth tones works even better because the reality is in the narration of unspeakable horrors lived by protagonist Amin Nowabi at several stages of his life and experienced by the viewer not distracted by film's visual reality.

Amin's quarter-century friendship with director Jonas Poher Rasmussen helps him confess honestly to the single camera about long suppressed hurt. The animation objectively captures the pain he suffers recounting the journey to freedom and recapturing his love of life.

Young Amin travels with his mother, brother, and two sisters with unscrupulous traffickers and corrupt police for months to arrive in freedom physically and psychologically damaged, separated from each other for years to come. The narration is impeccably understated as it lets the story collect the audience's grief and pity out of the documentary's reality.

Amin's story moves from idyllic, brightly lit youthful days in Kabul (similarly sketched in Kenneth Branagh's recollection of his youth in Belfast) through the darkly harrowing journey on land and sea to land his life finally now in Copenhagen, buying a house, and coming out with his partner to family and the world in a salutary note of hope for refugees everywhere at any time. The price has been enormous in lost lives and lost youth.

All is not animation because interspersed is library footage of the Russian Afghanistan invasion and speeches by former President Mohammad Najibullah. Such reality checks make sure audience is not lulled into animation's chief compromiser-its own unreality.

Amin himself may be experiencing fictionalized reminiscence even though events seem to reflet a terror that did happen and can only be imagined years later.

Flee is a masterful amalgam of animation, real-live photography, and history recounted partially from a terrible journey's reality and a hero's struggling memory and imagination. You'll understand our collective confusion about Afghanistan and our abandoning it. You'll also understand if Flee is Oscar nominated in categories such as animation and international. It's all good.

Jonas Rasmussen's animated Documentary is an ultimately rewarding docu-drama concerning a young man, Amin, who's life was upended when the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan collapsed and his native country was plunged into civil war. He is living in Denmark as the Documentary takes place.

Rasmussen has created a complex telling of the tale. Most of the movie is animated, but there is significant newsreel footage as well - mixed-media may be a more accurate description than pure animation*. Further, the movie begins as an interview of the now 30-something Amin, but blends in recreations of his life story with 'behind the scenes' (animated) footage of the Documentary's progress. Add, in the stock footage and it's a heady construct. Fortunately, it all works, and creates some suspense since the story-telling isn't fully linear.

At it's core, FLEE is a survival tale. Amin and his family escape Afghanistan only to end up in Russia where they once again have to run away in order to seek true freedom. The title has a dual meaning - both the physical act and a psychological one. It i the latter definition where Rasmussen excels in depicting how Amin's struggles have affected his emotional well-being and personal relationships. It's a difficult movie to watch at times, but, it is extremely well done accomplishment whatever the form.

* Some have mistakenly termed FLEE the first animated Documentary. There are others including the exceptional WALTZ WITH BASHIR which was nominated for Best Foreign Film in 2009. BASHIR also was set in the Middle East and included a bit of real documentary filmed footage (although significantly less than in FLEE)

A semi-documentary about the journey of Amin, who fled from Afghanistan.

First of all, I was surprised to see a documentary with animation style intermingled with real footages and sceneries. This style worked incredibly well because not only did it protect the identity of Amin, but also allow for beautiful visual crafting that elevated the emotion of Amin. Since Amin was mostly calm in his voice, the animation and footages helped conveying the stake and danger of the situation.

The story itself was harrowing yet compelling. I love how the story revolved around family from beginning to end. As a person who came from a family of immigrants, family is always an important theme. Because of that, Amin's testimony did hit it home.

Overall, an incredible story. 8/10.

Very powerful portrait of a life with so many obstacles that most of us can't even imagine. A great story but the documentary also does a great work mixing animation with real images on a very clever way and in a better way than I've seen before in similar docs. Great score also.

My only complaint is that I would love to have seen more 20 minutes of it and to go a bit further, for example, on his current relationship with his family. I really wanted to see how it happened when he met her mum again...