Canada/2024—directed by Matthew Rankin | 89 min.

With Universal Language, Canadian director Matthew Rankin delivers a rare gem: a visionary comedy that is both profoundly humane and enchantingly inventive. Set in a frosty Winnipeg, the film follows the mystical journey of a banknote frozen in ice, touching lives in ways both whimsical and heartfelt. 

Much like Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg(2007), the city becomes a dreamscape shaped by those who adore it—complete with French and Farsi as its official languages and a Tim Horton’s transformed into both a haven for wayfarers and an unlikely country club. 

This Canadian submission for the 97th Academy Awards® is a delicately crafted, soul-soothing work of art. In Farsi and French with English subtitles. 

“A magnificent film, one that feels warm and familiar even as we realize just how startlingly original it is.” –Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine