Flee (Danish: Flugt) is a 2021 Danish adult animated documentary film directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. It follows the story of a man under the alias Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his country for the first time. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as executive producers and narrators for the English-language dub version.
The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2021. It was released in theaters in the United States on December 3, 2021, by Neon and Participant.
Flee received unanimous acclaim from film festivals and critics, with critical praise for animation, story, thematic content, subject matter, and LGBT representation. The film also incorporates archival film footage of events in Afghanistan from the time Amin fled. Various critics found to be the most frequently ranked as one of the best films of the year, and garnered numerous awards, mainly for animated and documentary categories including Best Animated Feature — Independent at 49th Annie Awards.
The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, where it received one of the five finalists and became the second foreign-language animated film after Waltz with Bashir (2008), along with nominations in the Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature categories, becoming the first film ever to be nominated in all three of those categories.
Voice cast[]
- Amin Nawabi - himself
- Daniel Karimyar - Amin (ages 9-11)
- Fardin Mijdzadeh - Amin (ages 15-18)
- Jonas Poher Rasmussen - himself
- Kasper - himself (Amin's boyfriend)
- Belal Faiz - Saif
- Milad Eskandari - Saif (age 8)
- Zahra Mehrwarz - Fahima
- Elaha Faiz - Fahima (ages 13-26)
- Sadia Faiz - Sabia
- Anonymous voice actors - Amin (ages 13-15), Abbas, Akthar Nawabi, Tahera, young Tahera
International release[]
Theatrical[]
| Country | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark | June 17, 2021 | |
| Australia | August 7, 2021 | Screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival |
| November 7, 2021 | Screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival | |
| November 18, 2021 | Screened as part of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival | |
| February 17, 2022 | ||
| Belgium | October 13, 2021 | Screened as part of Film Fest Gent |
| Brazil | April 8, 2021 | Screened as part of the International Documentary Film Festival |
| Canada | September 14, 2021 | Screened as part of the Toronto International Film Festival |
| October 3, 2021 | Screened as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival | |
| Croatia | June 18, 2021 | Screened as part of ZagrebDox |
| Czech Republic | August 20, 2021 | Screened as part of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival |
| Egypt | October 20, 2021 | Screened as part of the El Gouna Film Festival |
| Estonia | November 12, 2021 | Screened as part of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival |
| January 7, 2022 | ||
| Finland | September 17, 2021 | Screened as part of the Helsinki International Film Festival |
| France | June 18, 2021 | Screened as part of the Annecy International Film Festival |
| December 17, 2021 | Screened as part of the Les Arcs International Film Festival | |
| August 31, 2022 | ||
| October 5, 2022 | Screened as part of the War on Screen International Film Festival | |
| Germany | October 26, 2021 | Screened as part of DOK Leipzig |
| Hong Kong | April 9, 2021 | Screened as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival |
| Hungary | March 10, 2022 | |
| Iceland | October 3, 2021 | Screened as part of the Reykjavik Film Festival |
| Ireland | February 11, 2022 | |
| Israel | August 25, 2021 | Screened as part of the Jerusalem Film Festival |
| March 10, 2022 | ||
| Italy | June 6, 2021 | Screened as part of the Biografilm Festival |
| March 10, 2022 | ||
| Japan | June 10, 2022 | |
| Luxembourg | March 13, 2022 | Screened as part of the Luxembourg City Film Festival |
| Mexico | May 26, 2022 | |
| Netherlands | November 19, 2021 | Screened as part of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam |
| November 26, 2021 | Screened as part of the IDFA in Groningen | |
| March 3, 2022 | ||
| Norway | March 8, 2021 | Screened as part of the Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival |
| May 31, 2021 | Screened as part of Oslo Pix | |
| October 20, 2021 | ||
| Philippines | March 1, 2022 | Blu-ray release |
| Poland | September 3, 2021 | Screened as part of the Docs Against Gravity Film Festival |
| March 18, 2022 | ||
| Portugal | April 7, 2022 | |
| Russia | October 29, 2021 | Screened as part of the Message to Man International Film Festival |
| Singapore | March 10, 2022 | Limited theatrical release |
| South Korea | October 7, 2021 | Screened as part of the Busan International Film Festival |
| April 7, 2022 | ||
| Spain | November 9, 2021 | Screened as part of the Seville European Film Festival |
| February 18, 2022 | ||
| Sweden | February 6, 2021 | Screened as part of the Gothenburg Film Festival |
| August 12, 2021 | Screened as part of the Malmö Queer Film Festival | |
| August 20, 2021 | ||
| September 18, 2021 | Screened as part of the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival | |
| Switzerland | April 24, 2021 | Screened as part of the Visions du Réel Film Festival |
| September 25, 2021 | Screened as part of the Zurich Film Festival | |
| Thailand | February 3, 2022 | Limited theatrical release |
| Turkey | March 4, 2022 | |
| Ukraine | October 1, 2022 | Screened as part of the Kharkiv MeetDocs Eastern Ukrainian Film Festival |
| United Kingdom | October 15, 2021 | Screened as part of the BFI London Film Festival |
| February 11, 2022 | ||
| United States | January 28, 2021 | Screened as part of the Sundance Film Festival |
| September 2, 2021 | Screened as part of the Telluride Film Festival | |
| September 19, 2021 | Screened as part of the Camden International Film Festival | |
| September 28, 2021 | Screened as part of the New York Film Festival | |
| October 2021 | Screened as part of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival | |
| October 2, 2021 | Screened as part of the Woodstock Film Festival | |
| October 6, 2021 | Screened as part of the Nashville Film Festival | |
| October 9, 2021 | Screened as part of the Hamptons International Film Festival | |
| October 12, 2021 | Screened as part of the Heartland International Film Festival | |
| October 15, 2021 | Screened as part of the Chicago International Film Festival and the San Diego International Film Festival | |
| October 24, 2021 | Screened as part of the Philadelphia International Film Festival | |
| November 6, 2021 | Screened as part of the Hawaii Film Festival | |
| November 12, 2021 | Screened as part of DOC NYC | |
| December 3, 2021 |
Television and streaming[]
| Country | Network(s) | Date(s) | Local title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | DR2, DR TV | February 7, 2022 | Flugt |
| France | Arte | May 30, 2022 | Flee |
| Germany | Arte | May 30, 2022 | |
| Netherlands | NPO 2 (VPRO) | April 14, 2022 | |
| Spain | Estrenos por Movistar Plus+ | April 7, 2022 | |
| United States | Hulu | February 8, 2022 | |
| Finland | Yle Teema & Fem, Yle Areena | March 28, 2022 | Pako |
| South Korea | Watcha | April 7, 2022 | 나의 집은 어디인가 |
| Sweden | SVT Play | February 27, 2022 | Flykt |