Participant Teams Up with Neon to Co-Distribute Jonas Poher Rasmussen's 'Flee'
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- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Wednesday, 03 February 2021 14:36
- Written by Hildy Johnson
Participant, dedicated to entertainment that inspires positive social change, has partnered with NEON for the North American distribution of Jonas Poher Rasmussen's Flee, which received raves following its World Premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
NEON acquired the critically acclaimed film following its World Premiere earlier in the festival. 30WEST and Cinephil brokered the acquisition deal on behalf of the filmmakers.
Flee, a film unbound by documentary constraints and swept up in an astonishing array of archive footage, '80s pop music, and a hand-drawn craft that brings audiences directly into the experience of a teen fleeing multiple countries—and the psychological impact on how he loves, trusts, and understands his burgeoning identity. Rasmussen weaves together a stunning tapestry of images in a triumph of storytelling and filmmaking ingenuity to tell a deeply affecting story of a man grappling with his traumatic past in order to find his true self and the real meaning of home.
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"We were awestruck by Jonas Poher Rasmussen's beautiful and intimate Flee and are so proud to join with NEON in co-distributing this film," said Diane Weyermann, Chief Content Officer for Participant.
"We are extremely happy to continue our collaboration with Participant which began with the Look of Silence," said Producers, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Monica Hellström.
Flee is produced by Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen for Final Cut for Real, in co-production with animation studio Sun Creature, Denmark, Vivement Lundi!, France, MostFilm, Sweden, and Mer Film, Norway. ARTE France and Vpro, Nederland. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Executive Produced.
The film is supported and produced in association with VICE Studios and RYOT Films and Ahmed's Left Handed Films. The film is supported by VICE Studios, RYOT Films, Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film, Norwegian Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Région Bretagne, CNC, Procirep + Angoa, West Danish Film Fund, The Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, The Animation Workshop, Anis, Fritt Ord, DR, SVT, Yle, Movistar+, I Wonder Pictures, ERR and RTV Slo.
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Flee is directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, written by Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Amin Nawabi. It is edited by Janus Billeskov Jansen whose notable works include the Oscar®-nominated The Hunt (2013); Joshua Oppenheimer's Oscar®-nominated The Act of Killing (2012), another Participant film; Yance Ford's Oscar®-nominated Strong Island (2017); and Thomas Vinterberg's Another Round (2020) the Danish entry for the 93rd Academy Awards®.
The film tells the story of Amin Nawabi (a pseudonym) as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon to be husband. Recounted mostly through animation to director Jonas Poher Rasmussen — his close friend and high-school classmate, he tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan. Through heartfelt interviews between Jonas and Amin, Flee tells an unforgettable story of self-discovery.
Participant previously partnered with NEON on the acclaimed 2019 film MONOS and last year's Totally Under Control.
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About Participant
Founded by Jeff Skoll and under the leadership of CEO David Linde, Participant (www.participant.com) combines the power of a good story well told with real world impact and awareness around today's most vital issues. Through its worldwide network of traditional and digital distribution, aligned with partnerships with key non-profit and NGO organizations, Participant speaks directly to the rise of today's "conscious consumer," representing the well over 2 billion consumers compelled to make meaningful content a priority focus.
As an industry content leader, Participant annually produces up to six narrative feature films, six documentary films, three episodic television series, and more than 20 hours of digital short form programming. Participant's more than 100 films have collectively earned 74 Academy Award® nominations and 19 wins, including Best Picture for Spotlight and Green Book; Best Documentary Feature for An Inconvenient Truth, The Cove, CITIZENFOUR and American Factory; and Best Foreign Language Film for Roma and A Fantastic Woman. Follow Participant on Twitter (@Participant) and on Facebook and Instagram.
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About NEON
In just four years, NEON has garnered 12 Academy Award® nominations, 5 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $150M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho's Parasite, which made history winning four Academy Awards®, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film, which also unanimously won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, has amassed over $53M at the domestic box office and broke multiple records including highest per screen average of the year and highest per screen average for a foreign language film of all time.
After their successful collaboration on I, Tonya in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin's and Micah Green's strategic venture) partnered with NEON's Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.
