Director Matthew Rankin ’s odyssey through a Winnipeg dotted with homages to Iranian film history — and featuring the coziest ...

Both a valentine to Iranian cinema and an absurdist look at Winnipeg, Canadian filmmaker Matthew Rankin's comedy is ...

Using real stories from the filmmaker’s life, he and his Iranian co-writers Ila Firouzabad and Pirouz Nemati create a world ...

His “Universal Language” takes place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but the culture is entirely Iranian. Farsi is the spoken tongue.

There’s not one word in English, not even “Do you speak English?” Filmmaker Matthew Rankin is a Canadian history scholar who switched tracks from academia to art. Maybe there’s something ...

Director Matthew Rankin's dry, eccentric charmer features a man who sings to his turkey and something called the Winnepeg ...

This time of year, we find ourselves in a lame-duck period on the movie calendar, with much of Hollywood’s energy directed ...

Universal Language” is delightfully absurdist, with little moments in each story that both make sense yet defy expectations.

A lightly satirical and surrealist comedy imagines the snowy Canadian city in the style of the Iranian New Wave.

While these oddities may sound like something cooked up by David Lynch, director Matthew Rankin’s world in “Universal Language” is built on a striving for community and friendship.