Flee (Denmark) (8/24)

Flee would be a remarkable story no matter how it was told. A gay man on the verge of his wedding tells his life story for the first time, and it’s a doozie. Born in Afghanistan, he and his family fled the country as it crumbled into war. He escapes the fighting only to become stranded in Russia, before moving to Denmark completely alone, his family members disappearing one by one along the way. What makes this documentary one-of-a-kind, though, is its use of animation. The pseudonymous storyteller “Amin” requested his anonymity, so filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen decided to create a documentary not of live-action shots but in stylized animated graphics that bend and flow with the narrative. As a result, this was the first film to ever snag Best Animated, Best Documentary, and Best International Feature Oscar nominations all in a single year. A queer masterpiece.