MUBI

MUBI
Web address www.mubi.com
Type of site
 streaming video / social networking / film criticism
Registration Free
Available in English / French / Italian / German / Turkish / Norwegian
Created by Efe Cakarel (founder)
Launched February 2007
Alexa rank
 negative increase 22,120 (April 2014)[1]
Current status Active

MUBI (formerly The Auteurs) is a global film website that integrates a database, an online magazine and a subscription video-on-demand service. It has been described as an "online cinematheque".[2]

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.[3]

In May 2010, under the new name MUBI,[4] the company announced that their subscription service would be available on PlayStation 3[5] 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.[6]

Starting in 2012, MUBI began launching a new, highly curated VOD model in select territories.[7] Instead of a large a 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 running for 30 days.

In August 2013, MUBI released an iPad app[8] in English, French, Norwegian, German, Italian and Turkish. The app allows users to stream the selection of 30 films on their iPad or send it to Apple TV using AirPlay.

As of 2013, MUBI has over 6 million members[9] and offices in Palo Alto, London, and Istanbul.

Partnerships

MUBI’s original partners include The Criterion Collection (whose website MUBI designed and manage), the European distributor Celluloid Dreams and Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation (WCF). In 2009, the WCF[10] released restorations of films like Touki Bouki (dir. Djibril Diop Mambety, 1973), The Housemaid (dir. Ki-young Kim, 1960), Dry Summer (dir. Metin Erksan and David E. Durston, 1964), and Trances (dir. Ahmed El Maanouni, 1981).[11] During the museum tours of these films, they were made digitally available on MUBI.[12]

MUBI has since partnered with a variety of international distributors. Due to these arrangements, they have been able to show films that in some cases are not available on DVD, including films by Raya Martin, Raúl Ruiz, and Philippe Garrel.

In 2012, MUBI partnered with the British cinema chain Picturehouse,[13] offering extended trials to Picturehouse members.

In 2013, MUBI collaborated with UK-based fashion and trends magazine Dazed and Confused.[14] For its 20th anniversary, Dazed and Confused curated a selection of film’s 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.

MUBI Notebook

MUBI also hosts an online magazine called The Notebook, based in New York City and edited by Daniel Kasman.[15] The Notebook is updated daily on weekdays and features several regular columns, movie reviews and coverage of major film festivals. Past and present regular contributors include Kasman, Glenn Kenny, David Cairns, Adam Cook, Adrian Curry, David Phelps, Duncan Gray, Neil Young, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and Ryland Walker Knight. Many of the writers also contribute to other publications or blogs.

Accolades

In 2010, MUBI won a Webby Award for Best Movie and Film Website.[16] The site has been praised or endorsed by public figures ranging from critic Roger Ebert[17] to actress Sasha Grey.[18]

PlayStation

An application for Sony PlayStation 4 was made available in December 2014.[19]

References

External links