Mind My Mind, directed by Floor Adams, is an excellent animated short film vying for top prizes this awards season. It first grabbed my attention in the spring as part of the Tribeca Film Festival animated shorts showcase, curated by Whoopi Goldberg.

Floor Adams: It was amazing. She’s an amazing lady. It was very exciting. She’s really into animation. She had a lot to say about it. It was really nice to know what she felt about it.

Jackson Murphy: “Mind My Mind” is about a young man named Chris who works with a little guy in his mind to form a romantic relationship with Gwen. There are so many details. There’s so much fast-paced imagery we see in his mind. How did the concept of this short first come into your mind?

FA: I was an animation teacher for autistic students. One of my students was telling me about the Tokyo subway system, which he really liked. He knew all the details: the names of the stations, how many suicide attempts there were per day. He was really into this. I thought it was amazing. “Where do you keep all this information? How does it work in your brain? What does it look like?” So I’m starting to visualize it. And he was also telling me about his normal day to day life, his social life, that he had difficulties. And he said, “Well, I don’t have a place to know how to behave at parties or be somewhere on time… know how to do groceries” – stuff like that. The normal, average things.

So it got me thinking. And in the same period, I fell in love with someone who turned out to be autistic himself, though we weren’t aware at the time. It was really interesting because he said, “Well, there’s something different with me. I’m different.” And I thought, “We’re all different. You’re just a normal guy.” When I was working with students, it was very clear that they were autistic. He got diagnosed later on, so we could talk about all the things that we have been through together from two sides… of the story. This offered me some sort of insight in his experience. I wanted to visualize that. The things that you don’t see from the outside that are happening inside someone’s head.

JM: The short not only shows Chris, who is autistic, but there are a lot of people out there who are socially awkward when it comes to finding someone. “Mind My Mind” is funny in a lot of places but it’s also very honest. How was it balancing that fine line with this material and not making it seem like a farce on relationships?

FA: When we screen it with an audience, there are some people with autism who sometimes don’t get all the jokes… People without autism are laughing at things that people with autism think are very serious. That’s quite hard sometimes, but it’s also very beautiful because we can talk about it afterwards. People are saying, “I was laughing at this, but also because it’s very awkward and also relatable in a way and it’s also sad and serious – and it’s so nice to laugh at things sometimes.”

JM: A lot of different emotions come out of this short. There are a lot of comedies out there that make fun of relationships and poke fun at certain things. You’re able to touch on topics without going over the line – without saying relationships are bad or relationships are over the top. So I appreciated that from watching it.

FA: Thank you. I just tried to stay close to myself and close to the people I spoke to. I spoke with a lot of people with autism. I had a lot of interviews. I sent a lot of emails through Messenger and tried to ask all these personal questions, like “What do you think is important for people to know about autism?” Or about stereotypes. What do you want the world to know about autism besides everything we think we know about autism. But also, “How do you date? How do you flirt? Do you think people with autism are capable of keeping a sustainable relationship? How do you want this short to end?” I tried to be as true to myself as possible and true to the stories that I heard. When you have a sexual scene in a film not to make it too funny and also serious – it’s nice to hear the audience respond to that. You hear everyone being engaged. They’re all going through the same process that Chris is. It was like intuition in a way.

JM: That’s good to hear that people are engaged with “Mind My Mind”. Have people come-up to you and said, “This will help me with my relationships. This will help me find love”?

FA: A lot of people with autism say it’s a film that explains how their brain works to people who don’t notice. “Can I show it to my friends, parents and relatives?” It’s not a guidebook, but it’s a positive film. I get a lot of emails, almost every day from people who see it and are happy with the film. “It made me cry and laugh at the same time.” That’s amazing – and the whole purpose of filmmaking to me.

JM: The little guy in Chris’s mind is such a great character. He doesn’t talk, but he has a lot of expressions with what he does.

FA: We call him Hans. No one else knows this except for the team because we had to name him. We gave him Hans Asperger. He’s a visualization of the information processing that’s going on in someone’s head. He doesn’t talk because it’s not necessary. I got rid of all the things that were unnecessary. He needed to see, so he’s got eyes and hands. And he needs to walk very fast. It’s a character I’ve been drawing for a very long time – it’s like something I just come up with when I’m doodling. I like him. He’s a nice character.

JM: Since you’ve been drawing him for a long time, did you have an idea a long time ago of where he would end-up?

FA: No – not at all. I saw my sketchbooks from 10 years ago with [a version of] him in it. I saw another sketchbook from 20 years ago with him and a friend. It’s not like I had plans with him or something. He’s been there for a long time. And the first idea [for this] came in 2009, so it’s 10 years ago. At that time, I think he was the first one that came along.

JM: Chris knows so much about airplanes – and making model airplanes. How into model airplanes are you?

FA: I am now. (laughs) I’ve got three of them now, but I’m not building them – I just have them. I’m very interested in WWII, so that makes sense. My former lover was into F-16 fighter jets when he was younger. I wanted to use that idea. And one of my former students is into model trains. So I combined them and I thought it would be nice to have a ceiling full of planes – to have something that he can do on his own in secret. I liked the idea of something that he needs to do quite a lot, and he has a lot of… the same things in his room. So that’s where the airplanes came from. And there are so many different patterns on them that are made for camouflage.

JM: I like the shot of all the planes on the ceiling. That’s a really nice visual.

FA: Yes, thank you. I really like that as well. It was really challenging to make. I was very scared if it didn’t work. But it worked! It’s good.

JM: What would an Annie Award or Academy Award nomination for “Mind My Mind” mean to you?

FA: It would mean so much. I think it’s a story that needs to be told. And I know it’s moving and touching in a way. People can relate to the story. People feel acknowledged and respected. I know it helps people by now because I get all these reactions. It would help me so much to get this film out there to have people watch the film. The film needs to be seen because it helps people. It’s very important to talk to each other and make it less hard to talk about your difficulties and fears and struggles in daily life. I know by now this film opens up these conversations. I’m really happy with the position we’re in right now. This is a great achievement for a film like this.