Universal Language

Universal Language

Director: Matthew Rankin
Country: Canada

2024 | 89 min. | Persian, French
Subtitles: German, English
FSK 6

Cast_ Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Sobhan Javadi, Pirouz Nemati, Matthew Rankin Screenplay_ Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi Camera_ Isabelle Stachtchenko Producer_ Sylvain Corbeil Rights_ Rapid Eye Movies

Canada’s submission to the Oscars. Somewhere between Woody Allen, Wes Anderson and Canadian modernism, we weep from laughter and discover the beauty of cinema.

Is Québec in Iran? The people here certainly speak Persian. And how is it possible to drive from there to Winnipeg and still end up in the same place? But above all: how do you retrieve a banknote from the ice of a frozen lake? With plenty of wit, great formal rigor, and even greater intellectual freedom, director Matthew Rankin explores the universal language of humor. Embarking on a hilarious journey, he brings us to abandoned suitcases and switched-off fountains. And finally, we discover the unifying power and beauty of cinema, beyond time, space, and culture. In other words, exactly what we need in the present moment.

Director

Director Matthew Rankin, born in Winnipeg, studied history in Québec and Montreal. He has made around 40 short films, which have been shown at major festivals such as Sundance, the Berlinale, and Toronto. His feature debut, ›The Twentieth Century‹, won the FIPRESCI Award at the Berlinale in 2020.

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