For a festival traditionally not keen on animation, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee” has surprisingly garnered remarkable accolades. The Danish-French-Swedish-Norwegian production marked the first acquisition of Sundance (sold to Neon for seven figures!), and eventually closed out as the winner of this year’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. At the same time, however, maybe this is to be expected. Out of ten entries, three this year in the World Cinema: Documentary section concerned the plight of refugees. “Flee” truly stands out here, as it tells a story beyond refugee status.

“Flee” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

“Flee” recounts the years-long journey of an anonymous gay Afghan refugee (hereon referred to as Amin Nawabi). Nawabi seems to have it all. He is an accomplished academic with a postdoc waiting for him at Princeton University; his significant other is madly in love with him; and now,...