"FLEE" // SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2021

BY MATEO MORENO

Officially becoming the first acquisition of this year's festival, FLEE is one of the most unique documentaries to premiere in some time. Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen mixes animation and stock footage together, creating a wonderous and eye-popping story. The source of inspiration is a young Afghan man, a friend of Rasmussen's, who now lives what seems like a happy life. But the nightmares and secrets of his past have been haunting him since he was a child. Finally, by telling his story, he hopes to be able to move on. By animating his story, he not only is able to protect his friends identity, but he's also able to elevate and amplify the intensity of the story. To build on the already epic tale he's about to tell.

Our protagonist, and the man telling his story, calls himself Amin Nawabi (which is not his actual name). Friends since high school, Rasmussen and Nawabi stayed close for years without the filmmaker ever truly knowing his dear friends past. Now Nawabi is on the verge of getting married to the man he loves and begin a new chapter. By telling his story finally, he hopes to be able to close away the pain of his past. He hasn't shared most of his story with anyone, including his fiancé. The interview becomes a framing device as we delve into Nawabi's memory, starting with his childhood in Kabul, dancing through the streets while wearing his sisters nightgown. Unafraid and joyous wearing his sisters clothes, he never thought twice about any repercussions. He paints a vivid picture of his family, from his grey haired mother (whom he always hoped he would see her in her jet black hair, as she was when she was young) to his sisters and brothers. He doesn't remember much of his father, as he was one of the unlucky few who were marked by the government and one day just "disappeared."

His brother, in his own words, was "a real boy," the kind that gets his hands dirty and can play sports easily. He wasn't the same as his brother and he always knew that. From a very early age, he knew that he was only attracted to men. He would sit in his bed, starring up at his Jean-Claude Van Damme poster, in a daze from his rippling muscles. He was okay with this. He liked being different. He has a journal from his childhood that he kept, written in Dari, but he has trouble reading it as an adult. So we rely on his memories, which are disjointed, broken and sometimes cross upon themselves. The stories he's told himself for years may not be the correct ones, as waves of the past come crashing back. For instance, the entry regarding his father, mother and brother being killed and sister kidnapped contradicts the memory of the disappearance of his father years ago as well as his own disjointed memories of his own escape through Sweden & a corrupt Russia all thanks to some slimy human traffickers. So what is the real tale of Nawabi's past? And will he be able to successfully wade through the false memories to spool out enough reality to help him finally, once and for all, heal?

Interweaved with real footage of his hometown, newsreels and speeches, FLEE paints a powerful picture of a brutal childhood and tragic upbringing, leading to the escape of his physical body but entrapment of his own mind. It's also a nontraditional queer love story, with a protagonist who's proudly queer but recalls his own sexuality as it was: a secret. In Afghanistan, he explains, they didn't even have the name for being gay. Sometime later, as a young man and once the judgmental world had sunk its teeth in him, he would question his sexuality for the first time. However, his memories as a child are pure and beautiful and in present day he is happily marrying his partner, something that is refreshingly sweet and pure in the film. Nawabi is searching for his past to be reconciled and the happiness of his present is helping him stay afloat. The animation here is stunning, painting a picture that expands the already thrilling tale. Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen pieces together the story like a mystery, unspooling in fragments and care, all with swift and assured direction. It's a powerful tale of reconciliation of one's own past for a promise of their own future and an experience you likely won't forget.

GRADE: A

DIRECTED BY Jonas Poher Rasmussen FEATURED AS PART OF THE 2021 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. FOR MORE INFO: FLEE