Flee

“Little Anim, his mother, and his siblings flee Afghanistan in the 1980s after their father is disappeared. With an older brother in Sweden, they try multiple times to get out of Russia where they are living illegally subjected to police harassment. FLEE is unusual because of its focus on the trauma that lasts into adulthood. Rasmussen correlates the lies that Amin must perpetuate about his origin and his family with the way Amin also tries to crush his gay identity.

“The film combines abstract animation for intense memory, more traditional animation for narration and the present, and archival video to ground us in time and historical context. A very important film about shame and psychological trauma, debuting during another Afghan refugee crisis. 5 cats.”

Michael says: “I know I’m very much in the minority here, but sadly, the animation kept me distanced from the power of the story. It didn’t have the emotional impact it should have had. While I understand the using of documentary to tell a story that couldn’t have been filmed, I think I would have preferred a well-written narrative based on Amin’s experiences. They could have even played with his different versions of the ‘truth’ in an innovative way that would have improved the film for me. 2 1/2 cats”