Far and away the best animated short film I've seen in 2019, writer/director Floor Adams's Mind My Mind is an absolute work of wonder, a visual feast with stellar vocal work across the board and a story that is miraculously insightful, entertaining, and even rather funny.
In the film, a young man relies on social scripts to survive his social world and it's not at all easy for him when unpredictable situations require that he go off script. It's even more difficult to go off script when he's obsessed, and I mean seriously obsessed, with German dive bombers.
Oh, and yeah, he also really just wants to date a girl.
Mind My Mind is filled to the brim with hopefulness and possibility, its creativity and intelligence radiating from every cell of the film's 2D hand-drawn animation, changing color schemes, expressive and downright emotional lighting, varied yet always quite perfect pacing, and an original score that pops and pulsates with electricity and imagination.
There isn't a single moment of Mind My Mind that I didn't absolutely love, its marvelous imagination immersing myself in a world that felt familiar and comfortable and nearly brought me to tears on more than one occasion.
Adams has crafted a rather marvelous, intelligent story here that indicates she not only understands the world she's created here but she rather seems to love those who live in it. If I'd have run into her while covering this weekend's Indy Shorts, I'd have been quite tempted to give her a big ole' hug because in many ways that feels almost exactly like what she's created here.
It's a big ole' socially awkward hug (which kind of sums me up perfectly, too).
Mind My Mind picked up the $5,000 prize for Best Animated Short at the 2019 Indy Shorts International Film Festival, an Academy Award qualifying festival in the categories of both doc short and narrative short. Indeed, it would be absolutely stunning if Mind My Mind is not recognized this awards season as it's so clearly one of the year's best, if not the year's best, animated short film.
Have I mentioned how much I loved this film?
Adams worked for several years in psychiatry prior to turn toward animation, a history that included providing care for those with emotional and intellectual disabilities. You can truly feel her understanding and compassion in every frame, a compassion that resonated with this film journalist who also works in the field of autism.
Mind My Mind has already picked up multiple other prizes including audience awards at ANIMA - Brussels, Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film, and Go Short International Short Film Festival.
Trust me, more awards are coming.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
