Matthew Rankin’s French and Farsi-language absurdist comedy Universal Language has been shortlisted for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category.

The film, produced by Sylvain Corbeil from Montreal’s Metafilms, was written by Rankin, Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi. It is distributed in Canada by Maison 4:3 and will be released theatrically across the country beginning in Rankin’s home city of Winnipeg on Jan. 24, 2025. Universal Language, set somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran, follows three seemingly unconnected stories that sees the lives of the characters interweave in mysterious ways.

Universal Language is the first Canadian feature to make the award’s shortlist since Xavier Dolan’s 2016 film It’s Only the End of the World (Sons of Manual, MK2). The last Canadian film nominated for the award was Kim Nguyen’s War Witch (Item 7 Productions) in 2012. Denys Arcand’s The Barbarian Invasions (Cinémaginaire, Pyramide Productions) won the award in 2004.

The Canada/Ireland/Denmark coproduction The Apprentice (Scythia Films, Tailored Films, Profile Pictures) was shortlisted for Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Canada/Norway coproduction Maybe Elephants (National Film Board, Mikrofilm) was shortlisted in the Animated Short Film category. The short film, by Oscar-winning Norwegian-Canadian director and animator Torill Kove, is produced by NFB’s Maral Mohammadian and Mikrofilm’s Lise Fearnley and Tonje Skar Reiersen. Maybe Elephants follows a family as they adjust to life in Nairobi, Kenya.

Also shortlisted in the category was A Crab in the Pool (Sémaphore Films), written, directed and produced by Montreal filmmakers Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien Hamel. The 2D-animated short film, distributed by Travelling, follows a teenage girl and her younger brother as they are forced to examine their relationship when left together on a summer day.

Sugarcane (National Geographic, Kassie Films, Hedgehog Films), directed by Emily Kassie and B.C.-based Julian Brave NoiseCat, which investigates the Canadian residential school system, was shortlisted for Documentary Feature Film. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two made the shortlist for Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Visual Effects, while Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine was shortlisted for Sound and Visual Effects.

Nominations for the all of the Academy Awards categories will be announced on Jan. 17.

Image courtesy of Metafilms