Heartland: Flee
The true story of Amin, a 36-year-old man recounting for the first time the story of fleeing his country and becoming a refugee as a teenager.
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As a 36-year-old man, Amin lives something of what many would imagine to be an idyllic life. He has a successful career and a loving partner who makes him laugh. But he has a secret that he’s never felt comfortable sharing with anyone, not even his partner. And it’s apparent that it has weighed on him the entire 20 years he’s kept it.
When he was a child, Amin and his family fled Afghanistan amidst the Soviet-Afghan War. Amin tells his story far better than I could ever summarize it for you here, so it’s worth keeping details sparse and experiencing it yourself. But the tale Amin tells is one of uncertainty, fear, loss, and bad odds. From abusive Soviet patrol officers to reckless human trafficking endeavors, Amin and his family endured hell for several years, in hopes of one day attaining freedom and some semblance of peace in this life. On top of all that, he had to hide from them for years the secret that he is gay. For Amin, the price for freedom and peace eventually became leaving his family behind, and pretending for years that none of it happened.
Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen tells the story almost entirely through animation—we never see Amin or his partner’s actual faces, but rather animated representations of them. Rasmussen recreates their interview sessions in this art style. Whenever Amin starts in on a new a branch of the story, Rasmussen moves to animated imaginings of the events Amin describes. It’s a compelling method of giving us, as viewers, something to latch onto while Amin narrates, since there obviously isn’t much, if any, actual footage of Amin and his family in this period of their lives. It’s also a powerful way to visualize Amin’s feelings—both as a young boy experiencing these trials and as an adult, reopening the wounds.
The art style itself is relatively bare-bones; characters are distinct but not particularly detailed, and environments are stark and minimalistic. The hand-drawn style and low frame count make it feel authentic and sporadic, as though it’s coming straight out of Amin’s mind. This approach works to keep you focused on Amin’s voice and the difficulty he has expressing how he feels.
However, by the same token, this can lead to the animation feeling rather drab and mundane; perfunctory rather than passionate. There isn’t much in the way of creative flourishes or vibrant colors, and it sometimes feels like the cartoon equivalent of the cheap-o dramatizations you’d find in a History Channel documentary. When Amin or other figures in his story are expressing strong emotion, it just doesn’t always come through visually. That sounds harsh, but it’s ultimately a minor gripe, especially given the low budget and grounded approach of this production. But even at only 83 minutes, this visual mundanity can make the story feel a bit slow.
Amin’s is a tale of great sadness and difficulty with trust. He’s had to leave many people he cared about far behind him, and he’s cut off those currently in his life from this piece of his past. But there is an undercurrent of optimism and moving forward through it all; it’s ultimately a story of letting down these walls. One particular moment toward the end of Amin’s story perfectly illustrates the fear that many young LGBTQ+ people experience about how their family might react to the truth of who they are, but Amin and Rasmussen ultimately leave us with a sense of hope and love.
Flee is a harrowing journey told through weary, time-worn narration. You can hear in Amin’s voice the fatigue of holding these things in, the anxieties about letting them out, and ultimately the relief of being able to express them. You can see in the animation the bleak, uncertain struggles of his youth. Rasmussen has given us a unique and engaging hybrid of formats that, though imperfect, feels incredibly appropriate and vital. Amin’s grief, trauma, and painful memories will likely always be with him, but thanks to seeing and hearing his story, we’re able to see how the love he’s found will always help him carry on.