LOS ANGELES — Filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s docudrama “Flee” made history Tuesday morning when it scored Academy Award nominations across three separate feature film categories: documentary, animated feature and international film.
Denmark’s official entry at the 94th Academy Awards, released theatrically in December by Neon and Participant after world premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, is the first film to earn nods in the trio of categories. It had previously nabbed BAFTA, IDA, Spirit and Annie Awards nominations and wins from New York and L.A. critics groups this awards season.
The distinction underscores the film’s unique blend of interview and evocative animation, which vividly brings to life the tale of Amin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee in Copenhagen opening up for the first time about his harrowing journey.
Filmmaker and radio documentarian Rasmussen first met his subject as a classmate when the then-teenage Nawabi arrived in Denmark alone in 1995, fleeing war-torn Kabul. Years later as adults, Rasmussen knew his longtime friend held traumatic memories of his past that he seldom spoke of.
In interviews spanning several years, Nawabi shares intimate, humorous and often painful details of his escape from Afghanistan, as well as a startling secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.
Rendering interviews and memories in 2-D color and abstract animated sequences, the format also affords anonymity to Nawabi, who appears using a pseudonym.
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