Neon made the first acquisition of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, taking US rights to the film by Jonas Poher Rasmussen To run away for an undisclosed seven-digit sum following an overnight bidding war.
The film, executive produced by Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, was an official selection for Cannes 2020 and premiered on Sundance’s opening night at the World Documentary Contest. Rasmussen directed and co-wrote the film with Amin Nawabi.
Playing in the world premiere section, To run away follows Nawabi, who arrives as an unaccompanied minor from Afghanistan to Denmark. Today, he is a successful academic and will marry his longtime boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built. Told mainly through animation to Rasmussen – his close friend and schoolmate, he tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a refugee child from Afghanistan.
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To run away is produced by Final Cut for Real, in co-production with the animation studio Sun Creature (Denmark), Vivement Lundi! (France), MostFilm (Sweden), Mer Film (Norway), ARTE (France) and Vpro (Netherlands). The film is sponsored and produced in association with Vice Studios and Ryot Films and Ahmed’s Left Handed Films.
“We are very excited to partner with Neon for distribution in North America, being such an innovative and daring company that we feel they can guarantee wide distribution in the United States,” said Monica Hellström & Signe Byrge Sørensen of Final Cut for Real in a statement.
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“I’m very excited to work with innovative Neon distributors to get To run away out, ”said Rasmussen. “Their title list includes a large number of my favorite films from the past few years and I am extremely proud to now include my own work on that list.”
Said Ahmed: “I was shocked by the emotional impact of To run away. This is a unique project that boosts our ideas about what can be documentaries, animations and narratives centered on refugees. I am proud to help bring this project to life for the English speaking public, ”
Coster-Waldau added: “When I watched To run away, I was amazed at the power of a story told in a simple way. To run away it is a story of extreme perseverance and hope where all hope seems lost. Using animation director Jonas Poher Rasmussen captures the intensity of a refugee’s unbelievable journey from the streets of Kabul to the Danish suburb. Since Amin is able to tell his story hidden behind his animated avatar, it seems much more revealing and honest than if it were a standard filmed interview. I’m incredibly proud to be part of To run away and will encourage everyone to try this gem from the movie. “
The photo is edited by Janus Billeskov Jansen, whose notable works include the Oscar nominee The hunt (2013), Oscar nominated Joshua Oppenheimer The act of killing (2012), Yance Ford nominated for an Oscar Strong Island (2017) and Thomas Vinterberg’s Another round (2020), the Danish entry to the 93rd Oscar.
To run away is produced by Hellström (The distant bark of dogs) and Sørensen, twice nominated for an Oscar (The act of killing, the look of silence), for Final Cut for Real (Denmark). Art director Jess Nicholls, animation director Kenneth Ladekjær and animation producer Charlotte De La Gournerie for Sun Creature Studio. Co-produced by Jean-François Le Corre, Mathieu Courtois for Vivement Lundi !, France, Charlotte Most for MostFilm, Sweden and Maria Ekerhovd for Mer Film, Norway. Natalie Farrey, Jannat Gargi and Danny Gabai are executive producers at VICE Studios. Philippa Kowarsky is an executive producer at Cinephil. While Hayley Pappas and Matt Ippolito are executive producers for RYOT Films.
Jeff Deutchman negotiated Neon’s deal with 30WEST and Philippa Kowarsky of Cinephil on behalf of the filmmakers. International sales are being made by Cinephil.
Danish-French filmmaker Rasmussen debuted in 2006 with the TV documentary Something about Halfdan, followed by a series of radio documentaries from around the world. His debut in the feature film Looking for Bill, a mix of documentary and fiction, won the Nordic Dox award at CPH: DOX and the international competition award at DocAviv. In November 2015, he debuted his latest documentary What did he do, which won the Fipresci Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival 2016.