Universal Language & Iranian Cinema
Explore the rich history of Iranian cinema through the past to present day with the director and co-writers of Bright Horizons film Universal Language. Hosted by Armin Miladi.
From this year’s extensive retrospective strand Iranian New Wave: 1962–79 curated for MIFF by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York which features 26 films over 12 sessions from the Cinema–ye Motafavet (Iranian New Wave) movement, to two new feature films (My Favourite Cake, The Seed of the Sacred Fig), and two new short films (In the Garden of Tulips, In the Shadow of the Cypress), there is a vast array of Iranian cinema to delve into at this year’s festival – covering documentary, animation, fiction and folktale. Add to this the unique Cannes award–winning Canadian film Universal Language – selected for our Bright Horizons Competition – which reimagines Winnipeg as 1980s Iran and lovingly pays homage to key films from that country. Join director Matthew Rankin and co–writer Ila Firouzabadi as they discuss their film alongside the rich tapestry and politics of Persian cinema with the director of the Iranian Film Festival of New York & Australia.
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Matthew Rankin is a Canadian filmmaker whose debut feature The Twentieth Century (2019) was nominated for eight Canadian screen awards and won three. It also took home the FIPRESCI prize at Berlin Film Festival. Many of Rankin’s short films have been selected for Sundance Film Festival, and his 2017 short film The Tesla World Light received an Honourable Mention for the Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Short Film. Rankin’s second feature film Universal Language, spoken in French and Farsi and inspired by classic Iranian cinema, won the first ever Audience Award at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. It screens in this year’s Bright Horizons competition strand.Born in Tehran and based in Montreal since 2012, Ila Firouzabadi is an interdisciplinary artist specialising in sculpture and drawing. She has exhibited her work in museums and galleries in Germany, France, Canada and Iran, and completed a residency in 2018 with the Servais Family Collection in Brussels. Firouzabadi co-wrote the screenplay for Universal Language with Matthew Rankin and Pirouz Nemati. It’s her first film.
Armin Miladi is an award–winning Iranian–Australian filmmaker. After graduating from Tehran University and Australian Film and TV school, he co-founded Iranian Film Festival Australia, and in 2015 he established Daricheh Cinema for the purpose of distributing Iranian Films in North America and Australia, targeting not only diaspora Iranians but also film lovers around the world, giving them an opportunity to see new Iranian films on the big screen all year round. In 2018 Armin collaborated with the Australian Embassy in Tehran as the Artistic Director to present the 1st Australian Film Week Tehran, and also founded the 1st Iranian Film Festival New York. Armin’s strong believe in tolerance through cultural understanding has been his driving force for establishing the Iranian Film Festivals in Australia and New York.
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Please note: No recordings of this MIFF Talks event will be available after the festival; this is a one–off opportunity to hear from these three artists discussing these themes.
This event is free to attend, but please RSVP via the ticketing portal below to secure your seat.
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