The Universal Language

Duration: 31 min
Release date: 2011-10-10
IMDB

The Universal Language is a new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green (The Weather Underground). This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word “Esperanto” means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.

Documentary

The Universal Language

Recomendation Films

  • I Know That Voice
  • This Changes Everything
  • Casting By
  • Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
  • Girl Rising
  • Back in Time
  • The Irishman: In Conversation
  • Seduced and Abandoned
  • Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return
  • Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th
  • I Am Heath Ledger
  • Looking for Richard
  • Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye
  • Marvel: 75 Years, from Pulp to Pop!
  • In the Realms of the Unreal
  • Spider-Man 2: Making the Amazing
  • Live Aid
  • My Mom Jayne

Similar Films

  • Tóc, giấy và nước...
  • Stay Maybe? We Think We Made a Film
  • Runātāji
  • Writing the Land
  • La cour de Babel
  • Like It Is
  • The Yes Men Fix the World
  • Cry Rock
  • Verschwinden / Izginjanje
  • Tuorås Dalska
  • The Unfinished Journey
  • Clase valiente
  • Esperanto
  • Comprehensive School
  • Соловей співає
  • Colours of the Alphabet
  • Keep Talking

NextFilm 2026