Mind My Mind (2019)

Directed by: Floor Adams | 29 minutes | animation, short film | Original voice cast: Simon Hodges, Cezanne Tegelberg, Adam Fields, Faye Bloomfield, Lesley Hughes, Elias Vervecken

‘Mind My Mind’ is a gentle feel-good animation about disabilities caused by Asperger’s Syndrome. Not a film to frown or scare you. Floor Adams does make it clear that disorders in the autistic spectrum can be unknown to the general public, simply because of the great shortage of films like this one. That audience is sympathetically introduced to the characteristics and disabilities of Chris, who is obsessive about making model airplanes.

Chris has a date with Gwen, who works at a reptile zoo. A little man in Chris’ head, Hans, instructs him in the social maze. That may seem infantile, but it is clearly portrayed: Hans translates the world in Chris’s head into that of the outside world. Going out in crowded groups is difficult, because small talk is involved; despite Gwen’s understanding, Chris shows flight behavior. He prefers to meet her one-on-one. But then he says ‘Do you wanna have sex?’ again, after showing her the door.

Recognizable and moving, ‘Mind My Mind’ is such a typical product that is enjoyed as a pre-film at a festival, albeit with half an hour of a somewhat awkward length. ‘Mind My Mind’ is also worthwhile as a stand-alone film, and could have been even longer. The story deserves a feature film; the subject certainly does, and with all due respect to the animation genre and the overall quality of the work, autism deserves a raw, mature film about the unforgiving performance society we live in.

A world that gives room to followers with fewer qualities and social handicaps than Chris, and avoids people like Chris. The accessiblely educational ‘Mind My Mind’, which made the Oscars shortlist but was not nominated, is just a little too nice to leave a lasting impression and initiate a culture change, although that of an animated short may not be too good either. to expect. Adams has fully understood the ‘problem’ and certainly does not miss the point with her narration.