Matthew Rankin was born in Winnipeg and educated at McGill and Université Laval. He is the director of some 30 short films and one feature which have been presented at Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Annecy International Animation Festival, the Berlinale, Cannes Critics Week and on the Criterion Channel. His debut feature, The Twentieth Century (2019) was award the Best Canadian First Feature prize at TIFF and the FIPRESCI Prize of the International Film Critics at the Berlinale.