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Over time, the two became close friends but it
took nearly 20 years until the Afghan refugee, now a successful
academic, felt ready to tell Rasmussen what really happened.
That story is told in "Flee", an animated feature film in which
Rasmussen's friend opens up under the pseudonym Amin Nawabi,
reliving past trauma and recounting his escape from Afghanistan
and the journey of self-discovery that followed.
"From the very beginning, I was curious about why did he come
and and how, but he didn't want to talk about it. And I, of
course, respected that. But our friendship grew and this thing,
this story was this kind of black box in our friendship,"
Rasmussen, now 40, told Reuters.
Opening up about his past and sharing his secret has brought
Amin peace, said Rasmussen. "He's kind of double-marginalised,
being both gay and a refugee. So just the fact that people are
relating to his story really means the world to him."
"Flee" opened to great acclaim at Sundance a year ago, winning
the festival's Grand Jury Prize, and has since picked up several
awards.
It received two BAFTA nominations last week and has been
shortlisted in the Documentary Feature and International Feature
Film categories at the 2022 Oscars, and is also eligible for an
Animated Feature nod. Nominations will be announced on Tuesday.
For the film, Rasmussen applied the techniques of radio
interviews, asking Amin to lay down, close his eyes and describe
his memories in detail during some 10 sessions they held over
the span of nearly four years. Amin's words are accompanied with
animation and real archive video.
It was a long process until Amin felt ready to share the secrets
that were haunting him and affecting his relationship with his
soon-to-be husband, said Rasmussen.
"The animation was really to make sure that we could bring the
past back alive," said Rasmussen. "And then putting in the
archival footage was really about reminding people that this is
a true story and underneath everything is real life."
Initially setting out to tell a story about friendship and
secrets, Rasmussen's perspective changed when the 2015 migrant
crisis erupted in Europe.
"I felt the need to give the refugees we saw on the highways in
Denmark and the rest of Europe a human face...and show that
being a refugee is not an identity. It's a life circumstance."
"Flee" is released in UK cinemas on Friday.
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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