The Mind Game

When he was just 14, Sajid Khan Nasiri fled Afghanistan alone. After a two-year journey filled with danger and hardships – which he minutely documented on his phone camera – he arrives in Belgium to seek asylum. There, a whole new struggle begins. Intimate sequel to the prize-winning Shadow Game. 

They call it ‘the game’: the life-threatening journey that many unaccompanied minors undertake seeking protection in Western Europe. For Sajid Khan Nasiri, the game started at 14 after the Taliban killed his father. Via Iran and Turkey to Eastern Europe he progressed ever closer to his destination, hunted down by violent police and hostile civilians. In clips recorded with his telephone camera, and in messages to filmmakers Eefje Blankevoort and Els van Driel, he keeps track of his progress.

He is sure that when he arrives, he’ll be able to relax, go to school and start a new life. But once in Belgium a new game begins: the mind game. Being a child, how do you deal with the enormous mental pressure of the journey, with distrustful authorities, and disturbing messages from the home front? An intimate documentary about the psychological pressure young refugees face.

Directors Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel and/or Sajid will attend some of the screenings for the Q&A. The film is presented in cooperation with KRO-NCRV.

#EducationNoMatterWhat

Prior to The Mind Game, we will screen the short film When I Grow Up by Claire Billet and Olivier Jobard. A highly topical documentary, shot in Ukraine, about young people in conflict situations and the importance of humanitarian aid and education. The film is part of the EU’s Education, No Matter What campaign. Read more about the campaign and the film.

These On Tour screenings are supported by #EducationNoMatterWhat: the new campaign of the EU to support the right to education for children in emergencies.