Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee made history when it became the first movie in history to receive Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best International Feature Film. 

Told through a mix of animation and archival footage in order to protect the anonymity of the protagonist, Flee (based on a true story) follows Amin, an Afghan refugee who recounts how he escaped his native country as a teen, his years-long perilous journey through multiple countries, and his constant pursuit of a place in which he could freely explore his identity and feel a sense of belonging. Now on the verge of marriage, planning to marry a man he met in his new homeland, Denmark, Amin begins to look back over his life, opening up about his past, his trauma, the truth about his family, and his own sexuality, which threatens to ruin the life he has built for himself outside of Afghanistan. 

Flee’s innovative use of animation to tell a deeply personal and emotionally charged story resonates powerfully with the ethos of our “Outside the Lines” series. The film pushes the boundaries of traditional storytelling, blending genres and techniques to create a vivid, immersive experience that challenges viewers to rethink the possibilities of cinema. By including Flee in our series, we highlight a film that not only breaks new ground in its form and content but also offers a deeply human story of resilience, identity, and the quest for belonging—an essential exploration in today’s world.