“Institutions Have Crumbled”: Universal Language Team Discusses Iranian Cinema, Personal Identity, and Canadian History

      Universal Language could have easily been overly sentimental. Set in an alternate-universe Winnipeg where nearly everyone is ethnically Iranian and speaks Farsi, it pays tribute to films such as Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House? and Jafar Panahi’s The White Balloon. Director Matthew Rankin portrays a character sharing his name, who travels from Montreal to Winnipeg after learning of his mother’s illness. His journey intertwines with two subplots: children Negin (Rojina Esmaeili) and Nazgol (Saba Vahedyousefi) discover a 500-riel note frozen in ice and search for an axe to retrieve it, while Massoud (co-writer Pirouz Nemati) conducts a guided tour of Winnipeg's parking lots and highways.

      While Universal Language is filled with clever humor, including TV commercial parodies and absurdist elements, it fundamentally conveys a deep sense of sadness. This is evident in its visual style: during a frozen winter, Massoud escorts tourists through Winnipeg’s beige and grey areas. Matthew is advised to appreciate the tranquil view of a highway beside a Tim Horton’s. Rankin enjoys envisioning a blend of Canada and Iran, but this imagination also reveals his character's more melancholic aspects. With a comedic style akin to Aki Kaurismaki and Roy Andersson rather than Panahi, it conjures a liminal space that exists only in fiction.

      Ahead of the U.S. release of the film starting this Friday, I spoke with Rankin and actor/co-writer Ila Firouzabadi last month during their visit to New York.

      The Film Stage: I’m curious how both of you were introduced to Iranian cinema.

      Matthew Rankin: A friend of mine, whose family was Iranian, introduced me to it. When I was a teenager, she took me to see Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House? That was the first Iranian film I saw, and it deeply resonated with me. That’s where it all began for me.

      Ila Firouzabadi: I grew up in Iran, so I watched Iranian films from a young age. Taste of Cherry made a significant impact on me. I lived there until I was 24, then moved to France, and later to Montreal.

      Universal Language contains numerous Canadian inside jokes, such as the bureaucrat who claims Alberta is the capital of Winnipeg. There are surely references I missed, given that I'm not Canadian. As you've traveled globally with the film, how have audiences responded to that aspect?

      Rankin: Nobody has had issues with it. A wonderful aspect of watching a movie is immersing yourself in a well-defined world. I grew up watching many films set in Brooklyn without ever visiting it. Even jokes about New Jersey in New York movies went over my head back then, but I eventually understood that New Jersey was often the butt of jokes for New Yorkers. When I saw those jokes performed in New York, they received big laughs, and I figured out why they resonated with the audience.

      Every movie has elements like that. As a Western viewer, you might not grasp every nuance of a Kiarostami film, but you can still immerse yourself in its world. This movie is distinctly hybrid; it interweaves elements from Iranian and Canadian cinema, creating a new, third space. The references don’t always align, but that's part of the film’s charm—it’s not attempting to replicate the real world, but to forge a new one.

      Twentieth Century felt much less accessible to me.

      Rankin: That likely depends on how interested someone is in Canadian subjects. And that interest may be quite minimal!

      When I encounter Canadians, they're often not enthusiastic about their own film industry. There's a tendency, especially among Canadians living in New York, to claim that "Telefilm Canada is squandering money on films that nobody will watch," while undervaluing the distinctiveness of their work.

      Rankin: Are you suggesting I should agree with that sentiment?

      Have you observed this dynamic while touring with the film?

      Rankin: Particularly since the pandemic, we're in an era where public institutions are dwindling. There's a troubling rise in individualism. The prevailing consumerist mindset prompts questions like, "Why should I pay for your chemotherapy? That's your problem!” Likewise, “Why should I fund your national art or experimental animation? I don’t want it!” Institutions are struggling to survive, but they’re not satisfying anyone by becoming risk-averse and attempting to please everyone.

      This complicates the situation. It’s a challenging environment. The world is hardly conducive to filmmaking. Regardless of public funding, it's always a challenge. Ila and I have produced films using various funding sources, and we intend to continue doing that. It’s a complicated time, especially in English-speaking Canada.

      Have you encountered criticisms that the film appropriates or exoticizes Iranian culture?

      Rankin: No. It was produced by a community