Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the writer and director of Golden Globe nominee and winner of the Best Nonfiction Film at the New York Film Critics Circle FLEE, stopped into the Angelika Film Center in New York to discuss the creative process and making of the film.  

Watch the full Q&A here:

Rasmussen describes the unusual ways in which the story was concocted – having lived around the corner from his “main character” Amin’s real life host family, and forming a friendship with him at age 15. After years of curiosity, Amin finally grew comfortable enough to explain to Rasmussen why he left Afghanistan in the first place, and consenting to his story being told through animated documentary. A priority of their work was to make sure that Amin could control when and how his narrative was shared, so the utilization of the format of animated documentary was crucial to allowing Amin to maintain his privacy out of the public eye, as well as truly dive deeply into his own memories from years ago. They worked hard to balance narration and documentary format with finding a deeply human connection, by recording not just memory recollections through interviews, but also collaborating to record Amin’s modern life alongside it.  

While the topics of the film can be incredibly heavy- facing childhood trauma, homophobia, and a refugee status – the film also is able to portray the world in a hopeful light, exhibiting Amin and his current boyfriend shopping for a home and settling into a more welcoming world. Rasmussen desired to create an emotionally complex narrative that mimics reality, thus creating a much deeper emotional connection to the audience- in watching FLEE, you enter the story in full immersion, whether you connect to Amin’s life situations or not. This film reminds us that this story is not new, nor is it ancient- Amin’s story is continuous, living through history, and now through the art of film and in the hearts of its audiences.  

About the film: An animated documentary telling the true story about a man’s need to confront his past in order to truly have a future. Amin arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, at 36, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his long-time boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for over 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built for himself. For the first time, he is sharing his story with his close friend.