Triple Oscar nominee 'Flee' animates true story of refugee's journey from Afghanistan

ByGeorge Pennacchio OTRC logo
Monday, March 21, 2022
'Flee' makes Oscar history with 3 nominations
Filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen brings the true story of a young Afghan refugee's journey to a new land in 'Flee.' The film made Oscar history by earning nominations in three categories: Animated Feature, International Feature, and Documentary.

This year, one film is competing to be the best film in three different Oscar categories: Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature and Best Documentary. "Flee" is a powerful true story about a refugee from Afghanistan and his journey to a better life.

It's something he kept hidden for more than 20 years.

For the film's director, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, who co-wrote the movie with the man who lived it, "Flee" became a project that took almost a decade to complete.

"We were friends when we were teenagers and he arrived to my little Danish hometown one day from Afghanistan all by himself and stayed in foster care with a family around the corner. And already then I was curious about his story. But he didn't want to talk about it," said Rasmussen. "I knew it was rare to do an animated documentary. But it really started out being a conversation between me and a friend in my living room. And we didn't think it would be a feature. So it's, like, to be here after nine years is just insane."

"It has that perspective going back 20 years and then up to today to really understand about being a refugee and the cost of it and also the history of Afghanistan," said producer Monica Hellstrom.

We'll see how "Flee" fares on Oscar Sunday, March 27.

FULL LIST: 2022 Oscar nominations

Jane Campion's gothic western "The Power of the Dog" led nominations for the 94th Oscars. Here are the nominees in key categories.
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