“Flee was the first movie I watched at last year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival and almost immediately the beauty and empathetic force of this one-of-a-kind documentary washed over me, reminding me of all the reasons why I fell in love with movies in the first place. It’s a phenomenal example of a piece of art that couldn’t exist in any other medium but film, as it interweaves animation, first-person narration, and archival footage to tell a story both deeply personal and profoundly global. Flee celebrates the power of the human spirit, while also acknowledging the long-term impacts of trauma and displacement, and the power that comes with telling one’s story. I’m ecstatic that we’re bringing Flee to the JBFC Theater, where it can be experienced the way I’ve been waiting for, for a year – on a big screen with its unforgettable animation on full display and in a room full of people with which to share this deeply human and extraordinary film.” —Adrienne Frank, Film Programming Coordinator
Recounted mostly through animation, Amin opens up about his past for the first time, recounting his journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan in the 1980s. He begins to look back over his life as he grapples with a painful secret he has keep hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon-to-be husband. Produced in part by Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Flee was a knockout entry in last year’s Sundance Film Festival lineup, and is an exceptional example of how animation can be used as a crucial and powerful tool in documentary storytelling.