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Universal Language film image; group of people standing in front of a building

Universal Language

Une langue universelle

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In a wintery, Farsi-speaking city that’s equal measures Winnipeg and Tehran, three narratives converge. Schoolchildren Negin (Rojina Esmaeili) and Nazgol (Saba Vahedyousefi) are tormented by a considerable sum of cash that’s encased in Manitoban-grade ice. Meanwhile, Massoud (co-writer Pirouz Nemati) shepherds a group of confounded visitors to tourist attractions such as the Kleenex Repository and the brutalist Beige District. Finally, Matthew Rankin (the film’s director and co-writer) abandons soul-crushing bureaucratic life in Quebec to reunite with his mother in this peculiar prairie outpost. As these storylines become comically entangled, the concepts of space, time, and identity grow increasingly opaque.

On the heels of The Twentieth Century (an absurdist, expressionistic reimagining of William Lyon Mackenzie King’s origin story), Rankin dreams a sophomore feature that’s every bit as deliriously entertaining and visually inventive but possesses considerably more emotional weight. While indebted to the meta-realist work of Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, Rankin’s humorous, poetic fable establishes him as a singular voice in international cinema and reminds us that Winnipeg is indeed a wonderland.

Director

Matthew Rankin

Cast

Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Soleymanlou, Matthew Rankin, Ila Firouzabadi

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

In Farsi and French with English subtitles

Awards

SUMMIT Award, VIFF 2024; Chantal Akerman Audience Award, Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes 2024; Best Canadian Discovery Award, TIFF 2024

Content Warning

Coarse language

G

Open to youth!
$10 youth tickets available

89 min
Metafilms

Book Tickets

Monday May 05

2:45 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles U18 May Attend
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
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7:10 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles U18 May Attend
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Book Now

Saturday May 10

6:00 pm
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Book Now

Credits

Executive Producer

Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi, Matthew Rankin, Dan Berger, Aaron Katz

Producer

Sylvain Corbeil

Screenwriter

Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi

Cinematography

Isabelle Stachtchenko

Editor

Xi Feng

Production Design

Louisa Schabas

Original Music

Amir Amiri, Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux

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