Mubi (streaming service)

MUBI
Type of site
 Streaming video
Social networking
Film criticism
Available in English
French
Norwegian
German
Italian
Turkish
Spanish
Dutch
Swedish
Danish
Brazilian Portuguese
Created by Efe Cakarel (founder)
Website www.mubi.com
Alexa rank Increase 14,114 (April 2018)[1]
Registration Subscription: $8.99 (US), £7.99 (UK) / Social features: Free
Launched February 2007
Current status Active

MUBI (pronounced moo be) (formerly The Auteurs) is a film website that integrates a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service, a film database and an online magazine known as The Notebook. It has been described as an "online cinematheque".[2][3] The service focuses on international arthouse cinema.

History

Originally called The Auteurs, MUBI was founded in 2007 by Turkish-born entrepreneur Efe Cakarel as a social network for cinephiles, with an interface specifically geared towards aesthetic design and simplicity.[4] Çakarel says that he began work on the business model for MUBI after being unable to watch In the Mood for Love online while in a café in Tokyo.[5]

In May 2010, under the new name MUBI,[6] the company announced that their subscription service would be available on PlayStation 3[7] in Europe. MUBI launched their app on the PSN store in November 2010, followed by a channel on Sony’s line of Bravia Internet devices in 2011.[8]

In 2012 MUBI launched a new, highly curated VOD model in select territories.[9] Instead of a large à la carte library, MUBI instead shows a continually rotating lineup of 30 films at once. A new film is added every day, and every film runs for 30 days. The model was expanded worldwide in February 2014.

In 2013, MUBI released apps for both iPad[10] and Android[11], allowing users to stream the selection of 30 films on their devices or cast it via Chromecast, or to Apple TV using AirPlay. Other devices supported include Sony Bravia, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Stick, plus Samsung SMART TV and Blu-ray players (in the UK and Ireland).

In June 2017, MUBI launched Feed[12], a continuously updated feed of the best reviews, news, trailers and films awards & festivals information from its film database.

In February 2018, MUBI (in partnership with the CILECT, the International Association of Film and Television Schools) began giving free access to its streaming service to 60,000 students at 180 film schools.[13]

In April 2018, MUBI launched Rentals[14], a transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) service which allows users to rent films which were previously streamed as part of their 30 day screening window model.

As of 2018, MUBI's website, apps and content are available in 11 languages (English, French, Norwegian, German, Italian, Turkish, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish and Brazilian Portuguese).

MUBI has over 8 million registered members[15] and has offices in London and New York.[16]

Partnerships

MUBI’s original partners include The Criterion Collection (whose website MUBI designed and managed), the European distributor Celluloid Dreams, and Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation (WCF). In 2009, the WCF[17] released restorations of films like Touki Bouki (dir. Djibril Diop Mambety, 1973), The Housemaid (dir. Kim Ki-young, 1960), Dry Summer (dir. Metin Erksan and David E. Durston, 1964), and Trances (dir. Ahmed El Maanouni, 1981).[18] During the museum tours of these films, they were made digitally available on MUBI.[19]

Since 2012, MUBI has partnered with such British cinema chains as Picturehouse and Everyman,[20] offering extended trials to Picturehouse members and hosting special matinées at Everyman venues. It has also screened films in association with the volunteer-run Deptford Cinema, a not for profit space providing affordable and diverse film screenings for the local area.

In 2013, MUBI collaborated with the UK-based fashion and trends magazine Dazed and Confused.[21] For its 20th anniversary, Dazed and Confused curated a selection of films on MUBI’s UK subscription service that were all themed to fit the year “1993”. Titles included cult films like Naked by Mike Leigh, and Strawberry and Chocolate by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío.

In 2014, MUBI partnered with Cannes Film Festival’s Court Metrage competition to exclusively screen a retrospective of short films that played in previous competitions. The short films were featured on MUBI during the 67th edition of the festival and included films such as Peel by Palme d'Or winner and 2014 Jury President Jane Campion, and 2007’s Ah, Ma by Caméra D'Or winner Anthony Chen.[22] MUBI also screened a selection of Christoph Schlingensief’s films in collaboration with the Schlingensief retrospective at MoMA PS1 and the screening series at The Museum of Modern Art.

In 2015, MUBI collaborated with Berlin International Film Festival to mark the 60th anniversary of the Golden Bear for short films, bringing the festivals award-winning shorts to MUBI’s global audience. Shorts available for streaming on MUBI included 2005 Silver Bear winner ‘The Intervention’ from the Duplass Brothers, Mark and Jay Duplass, as well as 2014 Golden Bear winner As Long As Shotguns Remain by Jonathan Vinel & Caroline Poggi, which made its international debut exclusively on MUBI.[23]

MUBI continued their partnership with The Human Rights Watch Film Festival in 2015, programming films in tandem with the festival, including the worldwide online premiere of Fernand Melgar’s The Shelter[24] and 2014 entry The Mulberry House.[25]

In 2015, director Paul Thomas Anderson released his acclaimed music documentary Junun exclusively on MUBI.[26]

Theatrical Releases

In 2016, MUBI began branching out into theatrical releases in the United States and United Kingdom.

Year Film Director Release date
2016The Blue RoomMathieu AmalricSeptember 9, 2016 (UK)
Baden Baden Rachel Lang September 23, 2016 (UK) • November 25, 2016 (US)
I, Olga Hepnarová Tomás Weinreb & Petr Kazda November 18, 2016 (UK)
2017The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli MäkiJuho KuosmanenApril 21, 2017 (UK) • May 19, 2017 (US)
The Son of Joseph Eugène Green December 15, 2017 (UK)
Weirdos Bruce McDonald May 25, 2017 (US)
Slack Bay Bruno Dumont June 16, 2017 (UK)
Mimosas Oliver Laxe August 25, 2017 (UK)
On Body and Soul Ildikó Enyedi September 22, 2017 (UK)
Félicité Alain Gomis November 10, 2017 (UK)
Wet Woman Akihiko Shiota November 17, 2017 (US)
Antiporno Sion Sono November 10, 2017 (US)
2018Lover for a DayPhilippe GarrelJanuary 12, 2018 (US) • January 19, 2018 (UK)
Have a Nice Day Liu Jian March 23, 2018 (UK)
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda Stephen Nomura Schible July 6, 2018 (US)
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot Gus Van Sant October 26, 2018 (UK)
Suspiria Luca Guadagnino November 16, 2018 (UK)

Original content

In 2012, MUBI produced a short film with Cannes Palme d'Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul entitled Ashes, shot almost entirely using a MUBI branded LomoKino Camera.[27]

Accolades

In 2010, MUBI won a Webby Award for Best Movie and Film Website.[28]

The site has been praised or endorsed by public figures including critic Roger Ebert[29], and directors Paul Thomas Anderson[30], Rian Johnson[31], Barry Jenkins[32] and Denis Villeneuve[33].

Criticism

MUBI Europe was reported to the British statutory Advertising Standards Authority in 2016 after a complaint that MUBI's online advertising in The Independent newspaper included graphic and offensive material. MUBI Europe did not respond to the ASA's enquiries and were referred to the Code on Advertising Practice (CAP) Compliance team. The Independent announced that advertisements from MUBI Europe would no longer be accepted by the online newspaper.[34]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mubi.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  2. ↑ "MUBI - crunchbase".
  3. ↑ "'Hand-picked' on-demand film provider MUBI raises $7.5m Series D funding". Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas.
  4. ↑ CineVegas: Interview with Efe Cakarel
  5. ↑ Knowles, Jamillah (23 June 2012). "Why it's So Hard to Legally Stream New Movies Online". TheNextWeb.
  6. ↑ "Why did we change our name to MUBI?" via MUBI Forums
  7. ↑ "MUBI. Now on the PlayStation 3 on Notebook". MUBI.
  8. ↑ "MUBI to launch on Sony Bravia devices". Digital Spy. 31 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "MUBI reformats, partners with Weerasethakul, Sony Google TV, Nordisk Fund". ScreenDaily.
  10. ↑ "iTunes Store: MUBI". appstore.com.
  11. ↑ "Google Play: MUBI". play.google.com.
  12. ↑ "MUBI Feed". mubi.com.
  13. ↑ "MUBI Giving Away Subscriptions to Film Students". variety.com.
  14. ↑ "MUBI Rentals". mubi.com.
  15. ↑ "Taking on Netflix and Amazon Prime: A spotlight on MUBI". Tech.eu. 2 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "MUBI Contact". mubi.com.
  17. ↑ "Scorsese Will Distribute Restored Films via Internet". The New York Times. 16 May 2009.
  18. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (15 May 2009). "Scorsese goes digital with film preservation". Variety.
  19. ↑ "Scorsese reveals World Cinema Foundation partnerships". ScreenDaily.
  20. ↑ "Picturehouse partners with MUBI". Screenadaily.
  21. ↑ "Film news". Dazed. 29 August 2013.
  22. ↑ Latham, Brandon. "Streaming Curator MUBI Teaming Up with Cannes to Showcase Award-Winning Shorts". IndieWire.
  23. ↑ "MUBI collaborates with Berlinale". ScreenDaily.
  24. ↑ "The Urgent 16: Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2015 on Notebook". MUBI.
  25. ↑ "The Noteworthy: 18 March 2015 on Notebook". MUBI.
  26. ↑ "Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie Junun is now streaming on MUBI". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  27. ↑ "Lomography - Watch Apichatpong Weerasethakul's LomoKino Movie".
  28. ↑ "Mubi - The Webby Awards".
  29. ↑ "Roger Ebert on Twitter".
  30. ↑ "Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie Junun is now streaming on MUBI".
  31. ↑ "Rian Johnson on Twitter".
  32. ↑ "Barry Jenkins on Twitter".
  33. ↑ "Denis Villeneuve on MUBI".
  34. ↑ "ASA Ruling on MUBI Europe". Advertising Standards Authority. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016. Action: The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told MUBI Europe to ensure the images used in their ads did not contain graphic content that was likely to cause serious or widespread offence. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.
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