Universal Language

Local title
Ühine keel
Original title
Une Langue Universelle
Director
Matthew Rankin
Country
Canada
Year
2024
Festival
28th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme
Best of Festivals
Genre
drama, comedy
Subject
humour, surrealism, journey

Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg, several characters' lives intertwine in surprising and mysterious ways.

Gradeschoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly- befuddled tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his meaningless job in a Québecois government office and sets out upon an enigmatic journey to visit his mother.

Space, time and personal identities crossfade, interweave and echo into a surreal comedy of misdirection.

The film premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and became one of the most talked about films in Cannes.

Director
Matthew Rankin
Screenwriter
Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi
Cast
Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Sobhan Javadi, Pirouz Nemati, Matthew Rankin
Producer
Sylvain Corbeil
Cinematographer
Isabelle Stachtchenko
Music
Amir Amiri, Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux
World sales
Best Friend Forever
Runtime
Language
Persian, French
Subtitles
English
Other festivals
Cannes, Austin Fantastic Fest, Toronto
Director
Matthew Rankin

Screenings

2nd Hall Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza
Screening040202 / Ühine keel
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Hall Electric Cinema, Tartu
Screening044103 / Ühine keel
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
8th Hall Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza
Screening170803 / Ühine keel
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
for chat functionality lives in data.yaml
Contact email successfully changed
The wanted email is in use in your profile
The wanted email is in use by another user
New alias added successfully
New alias is already in your list
New alias connection failed