Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s ‘Flee’ which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival has been selected as Denmark’s contender in the International Feature Film category for the 2022 Academy Awards. The animated documentary film will be released in the US on December 3.

‘Flee’ was selected from a shortlist of three films. The two other titles were ‘Margrete – Queen of the North’ by Charlotte Sieling and ‘The Shadow in My Eye’ by Ole Bornedal.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s film offers an intimate account of how Amin, the director’s close friend, arrived in Denmark as a young refugee from Afghanistan 25 years ago. The film is told mostly through animation, with sections of real life footage woven into the narrative.

‘Flee’ was among the Official Selection titles at the virtual 2020 Cannes Festival and opened at Sundance to warm reviews, winning the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. Since then, ‘Flee’ has received several prominent awards, including for best Nordic documentary at Göteborg and three accolades at Annecy, including the Cristal for best feature film.

Claus Ladegaard, CEO of the Danish Film Institute who chaired the selection committee, says: “‘Flee’ is the haunting and inventive story of a refugee and his journey. About the enormous price that people in his position pay every day, even in a safe haven. Jonas Poher Rasmussen directs with tremendous empathy, and Amin’s story is hard to shake. The film’s finely balanced use of animation, music and live action gives us a real sense of the horror and cynicism of Amin’s journey to Europe – while not ignoring the beauty, humor and hope of his story. This makes ‘Flee’ an unusually nuanced film with social and existential depth.

Watch the official trailer for Flee.