Canadian experimental filmmaker Matthew Rankin’s sophomore feature film, which has already been chosen as Canada’s Oscar contender, is set “somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg.” That should give you some idea of the absurdist satirical tone that Rankin is aiming for in this adventurous work inspired as much by Mohsen Makhmalbaf as hometown hero Guy Maddin. The film weaves together a collection of seemingly disparate tall tales: Negin and Nazgol find money frozen in ice and try to claim it; Massoud, a guide in Winnipeg, leads a confused and disoriented tour group; and Matthew (played by the director himself) quits his unfulfilling job as a provincial government wonk in Quebec to travel back to his mother in Winnipeg. Set in a fantasy version of Canada, where Persian and French are the two official languages and loneliness is the common currency, this gentle comedy is eccentric and open hearted, and marks Rankin as a talent to watch on the international stage. ~OO