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.
Chantal Akerman Audience Award, Directors’ Fortnight 2024
Sept 28 & 29: Q&A with director Matthew Rankin, writer/actor Pirouz Nemati and producer Catherine Boily
Media Partner
Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Soleymanlou, Matthew Rankin, Ila Firouzabadi
Canada
2024
In Farsi and French with English subtitles
Open to youth at International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
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
Matthew Rankin
Matthew Rankin was born in Winnipeg and studied history at McGill and Université Laval. He is the director of some 40 short films and two features which have been presented at Sundance, SXSW, Annecy, TIFF, the Berlinale, Cannes Critics Week, Directors Fortnight, and on the Criterion Channel. His first feature, The Twentieth Century, was awarded the FIPRESCI prize of the international film critics at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival and the 2019 Best First Canadian Feature Award at TIFF. Universal Language, winner of the inaugural People’s Choice Award presented by the Chantal Akerman Foundation at the 2024 Cannes Directors Fortnight, is Matthew’s second feature. He lives in Montréal.
Filmography: The Twentieth Century (2019)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Searching for Satyrus
Award-winning filmmaker and photographer Rena Effendi embarks on a quest to track down the very rare Satyrus Effendi, a butterfly discovered by her father in the mountains of Aberbaijain. But what she finds is altogether more personal, and more upsetting.
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
Palimpsest: The Story of a Name
Drawing on home movies and diaries from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, Canadian filmmaker Mary Stephen (Eric Rohmer's editor for many years) investigates the origins of her surname. After all, she was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents. Or were they... ?
Schindler Space Architect
RM Schindler is now recognized as one of the most important modernist architects of the era, the man who laid the groundwork for what is now considered the epitome of California indoor-outdoor living. This doc sheds light on a previously unsung genius.
Out of Sight
Adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel about the mutual attraction between an escaped bank robber and the FBI agent on his tail, Out of Sight is sexy and romantic, cosmopolitan, and full of Soderbergh's sleight of hand, shuffling time like a card sharp.
The Big Lebowski
The Coens' whacky, warped slacker generation riff on Raymond Chandler, a shaggy dog story which delights in going sideways at every turn. Jeff Bridges is the Dude, and what he really wants is to get his rug back...