Winter. Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to get it out. Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists upon an increasingly-strange walking tour of Winnipeg historic sites. Matthew leaves his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother.
Direction
Rankin's Iranian-Canadian fusion visual language is utterly singular.
Cinematography
Bleached winter light that makes Winnipeg look like a memory of Tehran.
Writing
Bilingual puns that work even when you don't speak both languages.
Director
Matthew Rankin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rankin shot this between Tehran and Winnipeg during pandemic travel restrictions, smuggling footage across borders literally sewn into luggage.
The film's title references a 1951 Iranian literacy campaign film; Rankin remakes its classroom scenes shot-for-shot but with Quebec bureaucrats learning Farsi.
CA
