The new film by Montreal's Matthew Rankin, International languagewas selected in 77H The Cannes Film Festival, within the activities of the Cinematographers' Week, is the parallel section that revealed its programs on Tuesday morning.
The 43-year-old director stars in this surreal French-Persian-language comedy, which also stars Quebecois actor and playwright Manny Souleimanlou, and the film's writers Pirouz Nemati and Ella Firouzabadi – also from Montreal, Iran – and Daniel Vichoud. In addition to the young actors Rogina Esmaili, Saba Wahid Yousfi and Sobhan Djawadi.
“Two Weeks is the section that always attracted me. It's indie rock and punk, which fits well with the film's identity,” Matthew Rankin says in an interview, sounding pleased with this second selection for Cannes. In 2017, his short film Tesla: Light of the Worldan abstract and surreal film about inventor Nikola Tesla, was screened at Critics' Week, another parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Rankin's first feature film, Twentieth century(Film), a biographical satire of former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King (with cameos by Catherine Laurent and Mikhail Ahuja), won the Critics' Prize in the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival in 2020, after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Image courtesy of Metafilms
A new feature film from Matthew Rankin International languageIt will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival during the Cinema Fortnight.
As in his previous films, with their very particular atmosphere, we can expect a scenario that exudes absurd humor and blurs spatial and temporal lines. Students Negin and Nazgul find an Iranian banknote frozen in ice and search for a way to extract it. For his part, Masoud guides a group of confused tourists through Winnipeg's monuments and historical sites. As for Matthew, he leaves his job in the Quebec government and takes a mysterious trip to visit his mother.
“The film is described as a Venetian chart of the cinematic icons of Winnipeg, Quebec and Iran,” says Matthew Rankin, who grew up in Winnipeg before earning a master's degree in Quebec history at Université Laval. We find the sad isolation of Quebec, the delirious madness of Winnipeg, and the poetry of Iranian cinema. This is the prism through which the story is told. »
The plot of children trying to recover a stuck note is clearly reminiscent of White ball Written by Jafar Panahi, from a screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami, two legendary Iranian directors whom Rankin wanted to pay tribute to. But the germ of the scenarioInternational language Inspired by Matthew Rankin's grandmother, who told him about finding a $2 bill under the snow in Winnipeg during the Great Depression.
“I changed my grandmother’s story, which is just the starting point, by taking inspiration from the Law Institute films,” he says, recalling the creative laboratory that specifically allowed Kiarostami to direct the film. Where is my friend's house? “This film is an expression of my friendship with Peroz and Ella,” adds Rankin, who evokes an “intercultural shoot” where experimentation and improvisation were in the spotlight. “These are my idealistic and internationalist desires, expressed through my Quebecois identity, but the approach is collective.”
“We had a lot of fun doing it together,” says co-writer Ella Firouzabadi. It was an extraordinary moment. And it's really nice to see a Quebecois director, born in Winnipeg, speaking Persian so well in a film! »
Because yes, Matthew Rankin also speaks Persian… “I can manage it!” he said without false modesty. “I understand it, I can read it and write it, but I'm not eloquent!” Anyway, I knew that in France, the entire film would be subtitled, including… Those dialogues are in French…”
The Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to take place from May 14 to 25. Journalism It will be on site.
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