Synopse
English or French? No, Farsi! A wonderfully absurd, intelligent comedy about the language conflict in Canada and a declaration of love for Iranian culture and the films of Kiarostami and Panahi. The introvert Matthew leaves Montreal and returns to his home city of Winnipeg to visit his sick mother. But somehow time and space seem to have been turned on their heads: bizarrely, everyone in this remote Canadian city seems to speak Farsi. And like in a film by Kiarostami, two children find a 500 Rial note frozen in ice and start searching – and Matthew gets caught up in the search.
Regie
Among other awards, MATTHEW RANKIN (*1980 in Canada) was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize for his debut feature The Twentieth Century (2019). For Universal Language he won the Audience Prize in the Quinzaine des cinéastes section at Cannes.
Info
Original Title: Universal Language
International Title: Universal Language
Category: Feature
Section: Kaleidoscope
Version & Subtitles: Farsi, French OV with German subtitles
Director: Matthew Rankin
Screenplay: Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati & Ila Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi
Cast/Protagonists: Rojina ESMAEILI, Saba VAHEDYOUSEFI, Sobhan JAVADI, Pirouz NEMATI, Matthew RANKIN,Mani SOLEYMANLOU, Danielle FICHAUD, Danielle FICHAUD, Ila FIROUZABADI, Hemela POURAFZAL, Dara NAJMABADI
Production country: Canada
Year of Production: 2024
Length: 89 min
Producer: Sylvain Corbeil
Production company: Metafilms
Cinematography: Isabelle Stachtchenko
Sound: Pablo Villegas & Armin Firouzabadi
Editor: Xi Feng
Music: Amir Amiri & Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux
Production Design: Louisa Schabas
Costume Design: Negar Nemati
World Sales: Best Friend Forever
Distributor: Stephan Holl, Rapid Eye Movies GmbH
