Article content Montreal filmmaker Matthew Rankin’s Une langue universelle ( Universal Language ) will represent Canada in the Oscar category of Best International Feature Film. Telefilm Canada revealed on Tuesday the choice by the pan-Canadian selection committee from among 26 candidates. The film by the Manitoba-born Rankin premièred at Cannes, where it won the Directors Fortnight section’s audience award.
It will have its North American première at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 10. Universal Language will be released in theatres on Sept.
20. Rankin’s 2019 debut feature The Twentieth Century was an absurdist biopic of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Universal Language, his followup, is an offbeat homage to Persian cinema that takes place in Persian and French and contains three narratives: Nazgol and Hossel want to help a friend find an Iranian bank note; a protagonist, also called Matthew Rankin, leaves Montreal to reunite with his loved ones in Winnipeg; and Massoud leads a group of confused tourists around the Manitoban capital.
“Time, geography and identity converge, criss-cross and clash in a surrealist, disorienting comedy of false leads,” reads the synopsis. The short list of 15 potential contenders for Best International Film will be revealed on Dec. 17, and the final selection of five nominees will be announced on Jan.
17. The 97th Academy Awards take place March 2, 2025 in Los Angeles..