On the heels of its world premiere at Cannes, Matthew Rankin ‘s comedy Universal Language has been named as Canada’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. The film, written by Rankin, Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi, will look to become the ninth in Canada’s history to be recognized in the category. Most recently representing the country was Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle in 2013.
As the appointed non-voting chair of the committee, Telefilm Canada organizes the annual pan-Canadian Selection Committee for Canada’s Oscar submission. The vote was determined by a group of industry organizations and guilds, as well as filmmakers and industry professionals appointed to represent organizations. Produced by Metafilms, Universal Language is set in winter, somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg, watching as Negin and Nazgol find a large sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to get it out.
Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists upon an increasingly absurd walking tour of Winnipeg monuments and historic sites. Matthew leaves his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother. Time, geography and identities crossfade, interweave and collide into a surreal comedy of misdirection.
Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Soleymanlou and Rankin star in the film, coming up for release on September 20. Oscilloscope is releasing it in the U.S.
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