Amin Nawabi’s story personalizes the plight of refugees to the viewers. It offers the viewer a look into the perspective of refugees and the barriers they had to overcome to find a place of security. Similarly to the people watching on the cruise, we often overlook the struggles of refugees, assuming they will receive the help they need. It seems more like a picture-worthy story, rather than real human experiences that involve immense amounts of hardship, pain, and danger. By starting the film from the perspective of Nawabi’s childhood, we can see how his calm, happy life with his family turned into a series of fleeing due to political instability, war, and corruption. Nawabi had to leave his family home and all their memories behind to a country where he constantly feared arrests and deportation. Nawabi and his family struggled to leave Russia due to the lack of money and the unsafe human trafficking. Nawabi’s sisters nearly died on their way to Sweden, and his big brother had to sacrifice his own relationship to save up money for the family to leave Russia. The stories of refugees are far more complex and emotional than the ones we see on news and television. The fear of being deported, sexually harassed, and killed are always in the back of their mind, making them skeptical of trusting others and telling their stories.
When I started watching the film Flee, I thought it was a story about how a boy survived and witnessed the murder of his whole family due to war and political instability in Afghanistan. However, as I watched more of the film, I realized that my belief was a narrative created by the trafficker to ensure Nawabi’s admission into the asylum and not get deported. It was a narrative that Nawabi had to tell everyone so that he could stay in Denmark and start his new life. He has to pretend to be someone else and tell a fake story. He must live in a lie to live in the stability that his family worked hard to create. It saddened me that Nawabi’s ex-boyfriend used Nawabi’s confession to threaten him during fights instead of empathizing with his story and trying to comfort him. I am so glad that Nawabi found Kasper, someone willing to wait for him to open up and take small steps.
At the end of the film, we learn that Nawabi’s mother and brother were able to leave Russia, and the family is now scattered across Europe. There is so much love within Nawabi’s family, and that love was able to change his life. It was so good to see that instead of judging Nawabi, Nawabi’s brother brought him to a gay bar and accepted him when Nawabi came out as homosexual. Their love is so selfless and heartwarming. It is truly amazing that they all survived and created stability for themselves. This film offers a perspective that makes their story so much more real to us, helping us to develop a better understanding of the plight of refugees.
I also really liked the depiction of a strong family bond and agree that it was really heartwarming to see Amin’s family support one another in the face of such tremendous struggles. I think it’s important to acknowledge the good emotions in the film as well as the bad, as you did in your response.
I think it’s interesting how you chose to highlight the scene of the people on the cruise overlooking the refugees on the tiny boat asking for help. I didn’t put much thought into it, but you made me realize how inhumane it was for the people on the cruise to instinctively take pictures of the refugees instead of getting them help. This relates to current society too. Oftentimes, on social media, I witness videos of people getting assaulted or harassed, and I tend to ask why isn’t the person recording helping the victim? Having visual evidence of the event is crucial to serve justice, but if the victim’s life is in danger, helping them out in the moment is more significant.
I love your comparison of viewers of the film to the passengers on the cruise ship. It is an interesting take on how we can act similarly to some of the characters in a story most of us cannot relate to. Also, I felt the same shift in the story as you did: feeling like I understood Amin’s life and being surprised as the story changed and revealed itself as a lie used for Amin’s saftey.