How many times do we say ‘Yes’ in a day? And in how many ways? It sure will be interesting to find out. Gísli Darri Halldórsson’s Oscar shortlisted short film shows us a humorous way to find out.

Various occupants of an apartment complex go about their daily chores, and in the process say ‘Yes’ many times, sometimes with joy, sometimes with doubt, sometimes with surprise, sometimes with annoyance, sometimes with relief, and sometimes with expectation.

By deliberately blanking out all other conversation, Gísli has managed to create a film that the jury for the Oscars have said ‘Yes’ to shortlisting. And, we hope they will say ‘Yes’ again for Gísli’s delightful short, ‘Yes People’.

We caught up with Gísli for an exclusive interview.

About the film’s journey, Gísli says, “I got the seeds for the film in 2012, and wrote and designed it in between jobs here and there from 2013 onwards. It was really frustrating because I didn’t have much time, but in 2018 I received a grant from the Icelandic Film Centre to make it and that’s when I could really focus on it. It’s very hard to say how long it took in total but I can say with certainty that we were animating at roughly 12 seconds per week. It was a time of incredible joy and ridiculous set-backs.”

Gísli prefers that the story dictates the style of animation. In fact, he would rather not use the word ‘style’. He explains, “Instead of the word ‘style’ I find it more helpful to think of the idea of limitations. Style is a bit of a polluted word - often perceived as fashionable or kind of arbitrarily ‘cool’. It’s just the limitations that create the style so that is definitely my starting point.”

2020 has been a tough year for everyone, but more so for Gísli. The film played in 40+ festivals, but he could attend only one of them (Reykjavik International Film Festival). Of the experience, he says, “It was just fantastic to see films on the big screen again. I believe in the cinematic experience more than ever before. I can’t wait to go back to the cinema!”

Gísli is no stranger to the Oscars. He animated on Max Lang’s ‘Room on the Broom’ which was nominated for the Oscar in 2014. Being in the shortlist feels special to him, not just because of the high-quality of all the films, but also because there are big names like Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks in the shortlist. He muses, “I’ve also followed Adrien Merigaeu’s (‘Genius Loci’) work over the years and seen all the other great films. It makes me feel very humble. To think about my tiny crew of 13 (including 6 actors) and how I was mostly animating on my laptop, in the kitchen, while my partner and baby daughter were playing on the floor.”

Gísli hails from Iceland, the land of Fire and Ice, and the safest country in the world. We complimented Gísli on the shortlisting and asked him how it felt to be following in the footsteps of 2020 Oscar winner Hildur Gudnadottir in the Oscar journey. He responded, “Thank you. This shortlist is very special to me because Iceland has very little history or tradition in animation. So, it feels significant to have made it this far. Hildur Gudnadottir’s work is sublime and has enormous presence. I draw much inspiration from the Icelandic music scene in general. In fact, one of my directorial goals was to make the film feel like music. The characters use musicality to communicate but I also strived to give the film a musical quality - a quality that could sustain multiple viewings and offer little discoveries on additional viewings. And I don’t mean hidden gags or easter eggs but that journey that good music can give you. Animation is just such a time-consuming medium that it makes sense to approach it this way.”

Gísli has dedicated the film to his grandparents Erna Gudmundsdottir and Gísli Kristjansson. He fondly recalls them, “They were extremely supportive of my animation pursuit. They were quite conservative and animation was not an obvious career in Iceland. It still barely is in today’s Iceland. But they were very enthusiastic and indeed my whole family has been nothing but supportive. I have witnessed very talented people abandon their artistic pursuits because of the lack of support. This has made me feel more grateful over the years. But my grandparents died during the making of my film. And I had written the positive energy between them into the storyline and interactions of the old couple in the film. So, it is a very personal film for me despite it being quite comedic on the surface.”

So what does the future hold for Gísli?

“I write a lot and I have much more in me that I’d like to materialise,” he says, “Making ‘Yes People’ with the support of the Icelandic Film Center was a very liberating and a good experience. Once they accepted the pitch - I had that sense of freedom that I had hoped for in a long time. So, I do hope to make more animated-shorts but at the rate I write I’m also considering other less time-consuming mediums.”