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Winnipeg was well represented on the award stage at the Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto over the weekend, with one project putting Winnipeg in the spotlight.
Universal Language, directed by and starring Matthew Rankin, received six awards over the weekend. Five of them – Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Art Direction, Best Editing and Best Costume Design – were presented to Rankin at the industry gala event on Saturday night, while Rankin received the arguable crown jewel, Best Direction, at the awards’ main event which was televised on CBC. The film went into the weekend receiving the most nominations of any film with 13.
“I’m from Winnipeg — I’m not accustomed to winning anything,” a humble Rankin said on the stage accepting his award, “so this is really sweet and weird and nice.”
The film - an absurdist confluence of storylines that sees Winnipeg culture juxtaposed into an Iranian context - has already received numerous accolades, including as the Canadian submission for Best International Feature for the Academy Awards this past winter. Despite all its successes on the national and international stage, Rankin still thinks of this as the local passion project made with his friends at various touchpoints throughout the city during the height of the pandemic, including the West End where he grew up.
“It’s a movie that I really made kind of for my friends,” he told Classic 107 when the film was first screened in Winnipeg back in January. “I feel like Winnipeggers watching it will understand more than anyone else, so it’s really fun.”
Now based in Montreal, Rankin made sure to shout out to his fellow Winnipeg film artists from the podium on Sunday night. “I really want to take the opportunity to thank all the weirdos of the Winnipeg Film Group,” he said, “This is where I learned how to make movies in an artist-run centre. Those people are really keeping Winnipeg weird, and I love that.”