MAISON 4:3 and Metafilms are pleased to highlight that the film UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, directed by Matthew Rankin, has just taken an important step in the race for the Oscar for Best International Film by being selected in the shortlist of nominees. Having celebrated its world premiere at the Quinzaine des CinĂ©astes in Cannes last May, where it was awarded the Chantal Akerman prize, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE has been selected for 90 film festivals across the globe, winning 15 awards to date. The film was honoured at the Toronto International Film Festival as Best Canadian Discovery and the Bright Horizons Award at the Melbourne International Film Festival. UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE has been sold in more than 30 countries and will be released in theatres across Canada beginning January 24, 2025, in Matthewâs hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The film stars the filmmaker himself, as well as Mani Soleymanlou (MY BROTHERâS WIFE, BEFORE THE CRASH), Danielle Fichaud (ALINE), Pirouz Nemati (ANOTHER WORD FOR LEARNING) and newcomers Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi and Sobhan Javadi, for the first time on screen.
Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to get it out. Massoud leads a group of confused tourists through increasingly more absurd monuments and historic sites in Winnipeg. Matthew quits his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his mother. Time, geography and personal identities crossfade, interweave and collide into a surreal comedy of disorientation.
Co-written by Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, and Ila Firouzabadi, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE is Matthew Rankin’s second feature film following the acclaimed TWENTIETH CENTURY, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2020 Berlinale. Shot in French and Persian in MontrĂ©al and in Winnipeg, the film is produced by Sylvain Corbeil for Metafilms with the participation of Telefilm Canada, SODEC and provincial tax credits from QuĂ©bec and Manitoba. International sales are handled by BFF. Oscilloscope Laboratories distributes in the United States.
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE is distributed in Canada by Maison 4:3 and will be released theatrically on January 24, 2025, in Winnipeg, with other major cities to open in the weeks following. The Toronto Film Critics Association will announce the winner of the Rogers Canadian Film Award in a gala event on February 24, 2025.
ABOUT MAISON 4:3
Maison 4:3 is a film distribution company founded in 2014. A boutique distributor, the company leverages its experience and knowledge of the independent film space to implement launch strategies and support for filmmakers at all stages of development and release. Maison 4:3 is passionate about deeply human projects that are both meaningful and unique.
ABOUT METAFILMS
Metafilms is a production house based in Montreal founded in 2003 to offer young, unique authors the means to express their vision of cinema and the world. To date, Metafilms has produced 23 feature-length, 28 short and medium-length films, as well as 7 music videos. All the films have been widely distributed in prestigious international festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Sundance, Toronto, San Sebastian, Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, etc.), acclaimed (Jury Prize at Cannes for MOMMY, (Silver Bear at the Berlinale for VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR), (Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF for FĂLIX AND MEIRA), (Jury’s coup de coeur prize at Cannes for LA FEMME DE MY BROTHER), (Canada’s choice for the 2024 Oscars for ROJEK), (CĂ©sar for Best Foreign Film for SIMPLE LIKE SYLVAIN) with sales all over the world. Very recently, Metafilms has been developing an emerging creators program with Rosalie Chicoine Perreault and Catherine Boily.
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