Universal Language

Wes Anderson meets Abbas Kiarostami in Rankin's ode to Iranian cinema, which artfully intertwines dream and reality. The introverted civil servant Matthew (Matthew Rankins) leaves Montreal to visit his sick mother in Winnipeg.

Will he arrive in the city where he was born? Because once there, it turns out that everyone in the isolated Canadian metropolis speaks Farsi. Matthew himself gets caught up in two children's search for a pair of glasses, while guide Massoud leads a group of bewildered tourists past the monuments and historical sites of the city of “Winnipeg”.

Universal Language had its world premiere in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section of the Cannes Film Festival and was also Canada's entry for the Oscars (shortlist).