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The Twentieth Century

Directed by
Matthew Rankin

Status . Completed

Country . Canada

Original Title . Le Vingtième Siècle

Year . 2019

Language . English

Domestic Release . Maison 4:3

Genre . Comedy

Runtime . 90

US Release . Oscilloscope Laboratories

Presskit Trailer Request Screener

BASED UPON THE PERFERVID
YOUTH OF CANADA’S MOST
ENIGMATIC POLITICIAN,
W. L. MACKENZIE KING

Toronto, 1899.
Aspiring young politician Mackenzie King dreams of becoming the Prime Minister of Canada. In his quest for power, he must face his imperious Mother, a war-mongering Governor-General and the utopian idealism of a Québécois mystic.

Meanwhile, King hesitates in love between a British soldier and a French-Canadian nurse and furtively indulges a fetishistic obsession for women’s footwear…

When his vainglorious run for leadership culminates in an epic battle between good and evil, King will learn that disappointment may be the only way to survive the 20th century.

DIRECTOR

Matthew Rankin is the director of multiple short films, three of which were selected at Sundance. His work is marked by the mixing of genres, the use of documentary and historical elements and a particular, lyrical aesthetic.


His last short, THE TESLA WORLD LIGHT, selected for the 2017 Cannes Critics Week, is part-biopic of visionary inventor Nikola Tesla and part exuberant, yet perfectly mastered, visual experiment.


THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (2019) marks his feature film debut; it world-premiered in the Midnight Madness section of Toronto IFF.

CAST & CREW

CAST
Dan Beirne (FX’s Fargo TV Series)
Mikhaïl Ahooja
Sarianne Cormier
Catherine St-Laurent


PRODUCERS
Voyelles Films (All You Can Eat Buddha)


DOP
Vincent Biron

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

3 CANADIAN SCREEN

AWARDS WINNER



TIFF MIDNIGHT MADNESS (BEST CANADIAN DEBUT)

BERLINALE (FIPRESCI AWARD)

LOS CABOS IFF (BEST FILM)

GLASGOW IFF

BARCELONA D'A

TAIPEI IFF

NEUCHATEL (NIFFF)

BUCHEON IFFF

TRANSILVANIA IFF

MOLODIST

INDIELISBOA

IMAGINE IFF

L'ETRANGE FESTIVAL

OFF COURTS TROUVILLE

FESTIVAL MIX MILANO

HELSINKI IFF

OSLO FUSION IFF

BRISBANE IFF

PACIFIC MERIDIAN (BEST ACTOR AWARD)

FILM FESTIVAL GENT

RIGA IFF

SAO PAULO IFF

NEW HORIZONS IFF

LEEDS IFF

TLVFEST

“Feel like both a throwback to an
MGM weepie and a colorized acid
trip through historic hell (...).
So enjoyable.”

“A twisted, cult atmosphere.”
A compelling pastiche of German
Expressionism, early melodrama, science
fiction, disturbing midnight madness
situations, Monty Python.”