They call it ‘the game’: the life-threatening journey that many unaccompanied minors undertake to seek protection in Western Europe. For Sajid Khan Nasiri, the game began at age 14 after the Taliban killed his father in Afghanistan. Travelling through Iran and Turkey to Eastern Europe, he gets closer to his destination, chased by violent police and hostile civilians. He records all of this in detail on his phone. After a two-year journey full of dangers and hardships, he arrives in Belgium and applies for asylum. But now a new game begins: the mind game. How does a young person cope with enormous psychological pressure, the suspicion of the authorities and disturbing news from home?
Read on to find out why Marvin McNeil from Save The Children thinks the film is so important. »
Els Van Driel
Els Van Driel
Els van Driel (Alkmaar, 1976) is a freelance documentary filmmaker and journalist. She created the award-winning youth documentary series ‘Mensjesrechten’/Just Kids, about children’s rights and was co-founder/director together with Eefje Blankevoort of the crossmedia production ‘The Asylummachine’ (nominee Gouden Kalf interactive competition Dutch Filmfestival 2016) and ‘The Deal’, an analysis about the consequences of the EU-Turkey deal in 2017. In 2020 she co-directed Shadow Game, a multi award winning transmedia documentary project about unaccompanied refugee children in Europe. Els specializes in human rights, immigration and religion.
Sajid Khan
Im SK from Afghanistan im the protagonist and Co-Director of THE MIND GAME FILM
Gefolgt von Filmgespräch mit / Followed by film talk with Els van Driel, Sajid Khan, Till Rummenhohl and Luisa-Celine Gaffron
Els Van Driel
Els Van Driel
Els van Driel (Alkmaar, 1976) is a freelance documentary filmmaker and journalist. She created the award-winning youth documentary series ‘Mensjesrechten’/Just Kids, about children’s rights and was co-founder/director together with Eefje Blankevoort of the crossmedia production ‘The Asylummachine’ (nominee Gouden Kalf interactive competition Dutch Filmfestival 2016) and ‘The Deal’, an analysis about the consequences of the EU-Turkey deal in 2017. In 2020 she co-directed Shadow Game, a multi award winning transmedia documentary project about unaccompanied refugee children in Europe. Els specializes in human rights, immigration and religion.
Sajid Khan
Im SK from Afghanistan im the protagonist and Co-Director of THE MIND GAME FILM
