ALFF Creator Talk: Matthew Rankin on directing Universal Language event image

ALFF Creator Talk: Matthew Rankin on directing Universal Language

This event took place on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025 at 2:30 pmYukon Theatre, Cinema 2

ALFF Creator Talk: Matthew Rankin on directing Universal Language

An exclusive conversation at the Available Light Film Festival, led by celebrated filmmaker Matthew Rankin, writer and director of Universal Language, which premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes and was selected as Canada’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. Rankin’s style, known for blending historical elements with avant-garde techniques, has also earned accolades for works like Mynarski Death Plummet and the award-winning The Tesla World Light. Originally from Winnipeg and with a background in history from McGill University and Université Laval, Rankin infuses his films with distinctive cultural depth and eccentricities. This moderated conversation offers valuable insights into Rankin’s unique storytelling approach.

Matthew Rankin studied history at McGill and Université Laval. He is the director of multiple shorts and one feature, which have variously screened at Sundance, Cannes Critics Week, the Berlinale, SXSW, Annecy, TIFF and the Festival du nouveau cinéma. He has been an artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony, the Corporation of Yaddo and the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture. His recent film The Twentieth Century was awarded the 2019 Best Canadian First Feature prize at TIFF and the FIPRESCI prize at the 2020 Berlinale Forum. He works in French, English and, increasingly, Esperanto.

 

Moderated by Dorothy Woodend (The Tyee).

Follow us on social media

YFS Annual Supporters

Canada Council for the ArtsGovernment of YukonLotteries Yukon