RIGA IFF: Universālā valoda

Matthew Rankin
Universal Language
Universal Language
CA
2024, 89', fa, fr
Recommended for ages 16+ No more telling where we are - is it is Winnipeg or Tehran. The different cultures and languages ​​of English, French and Persian are destined to bubble, while destinies and identities become surreally intertwined. The students Negin and Nazgol find a banknote frozen in a block of ice and try to get to it. Meanwhile, Masood guides the confused tourists through the city. Matthew, a man of life, quits his job as a civil servant in a government office in Quebec and plans to visit his mother in Winnipeg... Matthew is devastated - it turns out that Masood is already in his family home and has taken his place. Pag, pag, what's going on here?

The best Iranian cinema, as it turns out, is made in Canada. That's what director and Matthew Rankin, who plays Matthew, would say in idle humor. The metafiction included in the "Directors' Week" with sharp teeth goes right over cultural stereotypes, comedy genre and language (which is the new lingua franca - this description already tells about it). The Winnipeg-born auteur is a history buff, a cinematic adventurer who looks back on a long century (yes, he's the author of the RIGA IFF film Twentieth Century (2019) dedicated to figure skating and political theater) and experimental gourmands as neighbor Madin, another Canadian nugget. Referring to the Iranian classics Kiarostami and Panahi, the film seethes with warm nostalgia and alternative reality, inspired by cinema and a little bit of good old globalization. Even turkeys dashing through the snowy streets of Winnipeg have their cinematic references.

Recommended age: 16+
Screen language: Persian, French
Subtitle language: English
Synchronous translation: Latvian
Session duration: 89 min
Place for a wheelchair: yes

On the AllEvents portal you can always Buy tickets to an event Cinema RIGA IFF: Universālā valoda, Rīga, Kino Splendid Palace October 23

* The description translation is done automatically. There may be inaccuracies. Be sure to check the event description on the ticket store website when buying tickets.