Here’s something that doesn’t happen very often: an animated feature has built up major buzz and found a buyer at Sundance. Neon has picked up North American rights to Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s documentary about a refugee, for an undisclosed seven-figure sum (which according to Variety was right around a million dollars).
The film tells the story of Amin Nawabi (a pseudonym), who fled from Afghanistan to Denmark as a child. He has found happiness in the country as an adult, but a secret he’s been keeping for decades threatens to ruin his life. Nawabi co-wrote the film with Rasmussen (who has previously made live-action and hybrid documentaries).
Flee was one of the four animated features selected at Cannes last year. At Sundance, it debuted on opening night in the World Documentary Competition and has received strong reviews.
