MUBI

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. Çakarel claims 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.

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

Starting in 2012, MUBI began launching a new, highly curated VOD model in select territories. 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 running for 30 days. This consumer offering was launched worldwide in February 2014.

In August 2013, MUBI released an iPad app 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 2015, MUBI has over 7 million members and offices in San Francisco, London, Munich 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 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). During the museum tours of these films, they were made digitally available on MUBI.

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.

Since 2012, MUBI has partnered with the British cinema chains like Picturehouse and Everyman, offering extended trials to Picturehouse members and hosting special matinées at Everyman venues.

In 2013, MUBI collaborated with UK-based fashion and trends magazine Dazed and Confused. 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.

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. 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.

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 and 2014 entry The Mulberry House.

In 2015, director Paul Thomas Anderson released his documentary Junun exclusively on MUBI.

In January 2016, MUBI raised $50 million from its partner in China, Huanxi Media.

Original content

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

Accolades

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

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.

Device support

In addition to mubi.com, accessible using PC or Mac, MUBI is also available using: