‘Absurdly funny, sweet’ film set in Winnipeg wins TIFF’s Best Canadian Discovery Award

Winnipeg-raised filmmaker Matthew Rankin won the Best Canadian Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend for his film Universal Language, a surreal comedy set in Manitoba’s capital.

“After an incredible year of films featuring a wildly diverse range of talent, heart and innovation, we are honoured to present the Best Canadian Discovery Award to a film that boldly charts its own course through a poetic exploration of heart, home and human connection: the absurdly funny, sweet and soulful Universal Language,” read the jury statement after the selection was made.

According to TIFF, the Best Canadian Discovery Award “celebrates works of emerging filmmakers who contribute to enriching the Canadian film landscape.”

Winners of the award receive a cash prize of $10,000.

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“All first or second feature films in Official Selection by Canadian filmmakers are eligible for this award,” according to TIFF.

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On its website, TIFF describes Universal Language as an “impossible story of a Canada where Persian and French are the two official languages, and loneliness is the common currency” as people in the film wander through Winnipeg’s cityscape.

Last month, the film was selected as Canada’s official entry for best international feature film consideration at the  97th Academy Awards.

At the time the Academy Awards consideration was revealed, Rankin expressed amazement by the “improbable selection.”

The Oscar submission does not guarantee a nomination. Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 17.

Universal Language was written by Rankin, Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi.

Rankin’s 2019 feature debut was the film The Twentieth Century.

— with files from The Canadian Press