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[title]IN THE BEGINNING Was the VHS. Then came the VCD, the DVD, and the Blu-ray, and soon the experience of going to the movies could be replicated in the comfort of the home. But the question of what to watch still remained. In 2007, Turkishentrepreneur Efe Çakarel stepped up to the curatorial challenge and launched the streaming service MUBI. Instead of an à la carte library found on platforms like Netflix, MUBI offers a rotating lineup of 30 art-house films, with a new film added every day to replace one that has expired its 30-day run.
Who is MUBI’s target audience?
Anyone who shares a passion for cinema, who wants to watch something beautiful and special, and who is tired of too many uninteresting options to choose from. Our audience is interested in films that move, excite and engage them. They appreciate good directors and local film festivals.
Since its inception, MUBI has remained consistent in the kind of films it picks. What has been the biggest change? The biggest change came when we adopted a curatorial model run by real people and not by computer programs. Our goal has always been to showcase the best of cinema, and we have made it even easier to find a great film to watch at any given time.
Who selects the films?
We have an international team of curators whose mission it is to make MUBI the most exciting online streaming Efe Çakarel 20 September – October 2019 Time Out Istanbul in English platform in the field. We discover new talents at film festivals around the world and present retrospectives of talented directors. This necessitates cooperation with cultural centres and large publications, and requires experience in current trends as well as a deep understanding of film history. Our curators are confident that each day’s selection is enjoyable and thought-provoking, as well as being representative of the art of cinema in a sincere way.
You have said that you founded MUBI after being unable to watch ‘In the Mood for Love’ while in a café in Tokyo. With the proliferation of streaming platforms in recent years, it has become easier to access films. Where do you place MUBI within all these developments?
As you said, since MUBI was founded in 2007, watching films have become more accessible for someone with an Internet connection and a credit card. There are a lot of platforms out there and a seemingly endless amount of content on offer. Yet, a problem we identified 10 years ago remains as pertinent as ever, and that is easy access to the best of cinema. Our mission remains the same today as it was back in 2007: to provide great cinema regardless of whether its mainstream of highbrow. Film is a diverse art form and audiences around the world deserve to experience the richness of this diversity.
If you were to pick a film to remain permanently on the MUBI archive, what would it be and why?
This is a difficult question, because Turkish cinema is so vast. To me, Nuri Bilge Ceylan is Turkey’s most important filmmaker. I will never forget the time when ‘Winter Sleep’ won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, and how exciting it was for a Turkish film to win the biggest film award in the world! It is such a deep and complex masterpiece. I can dive into it again and again, like rereading a favourite book. Having said that, I think ‘Once Upon a Time in Anatolia’ is even more captivating and mysterious. Quite a lot of other films come to mind as well. Do I have to choose only one?
The number of moviegoers in Turkey for the first six months of 2019 has decreased by almost 25% compared to the previous year. Why do you think this is?
This is not a phenomenon endemic to Turkey. It is a sad situation, but as more and more content is made available through online streaming platforms at home, audiences are conditioned to go the cinema only in exceptional circumstances, like when a big blockbuster hits the theatres. To be frank, this is good for online streaming platforms, including MUBI, but it comes at the detriment of the art of cinema. What’s being lost is the social essence of cinema and the experience of watching stories together – this is how cinema has stayed relevant as an art form for over 100 years. With our carefully curated films, the public screenings we organise, the films we produce, and the MUBI GO app we have recently launched, we try to encourage the experience of going to the movies as much as possible.
www.mubi.com