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MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Winnipeg-born director Matthew Rankin’s new movie Universal Language is an Academy Award contender. It’s an exciting moment for the filmmaker, who came of age at the Winnipeg Film Group, and the entire local film industry, with Rankin’s film becoming Canada’s official submission for Best Foreign Language film. Told in French and Farsi and filmed in Winnipeg and Montreal, the film highlights several of Rankin’s obsessions, including local iconography, national symbols like Tim Hortons, and the apartment buildings of Winnipeg. The Lord Rodney Apartments, a Sherbrook block Rankin used to walk past on his way to the Film Group before he moved to Montreal, figure heavily in the film’s trailer and promotional material. reporter: Ben Waldman 250122 - Wednesday, January 22, 2025.