The Mind Game
Sajid Khan Nasiri, Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel | Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Netherlands, Romania | 2023 | VO ST EN | 52′
Aged only 14, Sajid Khan Nasiri fled Afghanistan on his own. After a two-year journey full of danger and hardship – which he recorded in detail on his camera phone – he arrives in Belgium, where a whole new struggle begins. From the makers of the award-winning documentary, Shadow Game.
They call it ‘the game’: the perilous journey that many unaccompanied minors take in search of protection in western Europe. For Sajid Khan Nasiri, the game began at the age of 14, after the Taliban killed his father. Via Iran and Turkey to eastern Europe he gets closer and closer to his destination, hounded by violent policemen and hostile civilians. In clips recorded with his camera phone, and in messages to filmmakers Eefje Blankevoort and Els van Driel, he recounts the experience.
He is sure that when he arrives he will be able to relax, go to school and start a new life. But once in Belgium, a new game begins, the mind game. How do you cope as a child with the enorm us mental pressure of the journey, suspicious authorities, and disturbing news from the home front? An intimate documentary about the psychological pressures that young refugees face. In the in-depth programme, we delve further into the reality of refugees, while on their way, and once they arrive.
Cinema Europa
Cinema Europa is a collaboration between Cinemaximiliaan and Europalia for Art2gether, an exuberant celebration of the core principles of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union — including pluralism, non-discrimination, solidarity and equality. At the crossroads of art, culture and the values that unite us – now more than ever – Europalia has curated a series of free music and dance performances, film screenings and lectures at various locations throughout the European capital
Practical details
6 PM Dinner by Cassonade
7 PM Screening of The Mind Game
8 PM Question and answer session with Cinemaximiliaan
Live dubbing in French and Dutch
Free event