Danish filmmaker Jonas Pohr Rasmussen on making a personal film with Oscar-nominated ‘Flea’

Somewhere in the Baltic Sea, a dilapidated boat carrying fleeing Afghans crosses paths with a Norwegian cruise ship.

As the refugees breathe a sigh of relief, onlookers document their plight with cameras turned off.

Amin Nawabi remembers feeling embarrassed and ashamed. this scene in the middle EscapeNothing short of heartwarming: A personal memory recounted and seen in brief detail, it illustrates the stark distinction between those in need and those in privilege.

The animated documentary, which has made waves with a triple nomination for the 2022 Oscars, follows its protagonist Amin Nawabi. A refugee who fled war-torn Kabul to the Soviet Union in the 80s. Amin later sought refuge in Scandinavia.

Originally produced in Danish by filmmaker Jonas Pohar Rasmussen, it is a story in which Jonas has a lot of personal investment: Amin (not his real name) happens to be his friend.

On a Zoom call from Copenhagen, Jonas explains, “To go back, it all really started when I met Amin 25 years ago. They showed themselves in my little sleepy Danish hometown. He came from Afghanistan and has been in foster care with a family near where I live. Amin learned Danish early. And soon, they started meeting every morning to go to school together.

Thus began a kinship that has not lost its luster to this day. “Already, I was curious how and why he came to be, but he didn’t really want to talk about it. This story became a ‘black box’ within him and our friendship,” Jonas continues. And they moved on. They traveled together, suffered heartbreak together and spent every New Year’s Eve together. “But there has always been an elephant in the room.”

Fifteen years ago, when Jonas asked Amin if he could make a radio documentary about his story, Amin refused. He said he was not ready. “But he said he felt a disconnect within himself. He said he couldn’t reconcile his past and present and didn’t feel like a perfect person.

Later, when Jonas was invited to an animators’ event in Denmark, where he was asked to submit an idea for an animated documentary, Amin’s story came back to mind.

When Jonas approached him with the idea, Amin was concerned with the fact that he might be behind the animation anonymously. He realized that since most of the story takes place in the past, animation is a powerful tool to bring the past to life. “I thought we could go back and revive Amin’s childhood home in Afghanistan and Kabul in the 80s. Because it’s a story of memory and trauma, we use animation to be a lot more expressive. can do. “

still from the film | photo credit: special arrangement

Amin has his own voice in this untranslated documentary: as if he were telling his story. “Amin felt this would be the right way to open up.” For this he sat for several interviews with his friend.

Then, the art director, Jess Nichols, spent months diving into archival footage to get an apt look at ’80s Afghanistan. it was not easy. “Sometimes, we would look at archival footage, and pull it up and put it into animation. It was very important for us to make it feel real. Because it’s a real story from a real person,” says Jonas.

Escape Ended up as a learning curve, he adds. Although the story is told from inside their friendship, during the birth of the film, he realized that he could challenge the mainstream media’s perception of refugees. Moreover, today the film has become even more relevant.

Jonas was specifically about Amin being able to recognize himself in the film. “We sat down and watched the movie together. When the end credits rolled, he looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know if this is a good movie or not.’ He said that he is unable to separate his feelings from the story. Right then, Jonas knew he had succeeded.

Ask the filmmaker to name an example in Amin’s narration that shocked him, and he points to the scene with which the interview begins: “I thought one of the tourists from Norway was taking pictures. because I was a document her Story.”

Director of ‘Flea’ | photo credit: special arrangement