Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language will represent Canada in the nomination process for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.
Directed by and co-written by Rankin, alongside Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi, Universal Language was produced by Sylvain Corbeil’s Montreal-based Metafilms.
The film, which had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival where it won the inaugural Directors’ Fortnight Audience Award, is set in a re-imagined Winnipeg (by way of Tehran and Montreal) in winter. The comedy-drama has been described an “absurdist city symphony,” focused around, among other overlapping storylines, two people who discover a large sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice who try to find a way to get it out. The film, which features French and Farsi dialogue, stars Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Mani Soleymanlou, in addition to Nemati and Rankin.
Universal Language will have its North American premiere at TIFF on Sept. 10.
“This year’s film submissions brilliantly showcase the exceptional talent that makes Canada shine,” said Julie Roy, Executive Director and CEO of Telefilm Canada, in an agency announcement. “This film is emblematic of our national cinematography: with the success it has enjoyed since its launch at Cannes, no matter what the language, it reaches audiences here and abroad. That’s the power of cinema! We wish Matthew Rankin, Sylvain Corbeil and the entire creative team the best of luck!”
“We are amazed by this improbable selection and we will do our very best to represent Canada at the Oscars,” added Rankin. “Universal Language is an expression of very great collective joy between myself and my friends Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi, Sylvain Corbeil and all the beautiful and hilarious people who created this strange, triangle-shaped, Irano-Winnipego-Québécois brain which became our film, beh naamé doosti (in the Name of Friendship).”
This is Rankin’s second feature film following The Twentieth Century in 2019, which captured three Canadian Screen Awards. Hailing from Winnipeg, but more recently based in Montreal, his largely experimental and oft surreal work is known for showcasing his love for his hometown.
The vote was determined by a pan-Canadian committee of industry organizations and guilds, as well as filmmakers and industry professionals appointed to represent organizations. Universal Language was chosen from 26 films submitted for consideration.
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