I reached out to MUBI once again recently, to confirm their sponsorship of our annual online event, Femme Filmmakers Festival. But my usual contact was no longer working for MUBI. Anyway, they’ve sponsored us before, and been very co-operative – offering giveaway subscriptions and linking to our festival. I have also given to them, where I can with humble means, including the shout-out to their project with Girls in Film. MUBI I always found to be a truly stand-alone, revitalising streaming service. Complete with a heart for the marginalised and independent, and a brain for the diverse and the innovative. A movie-watching platform with a personality.
I’ve been a long-time subscriber to MUBI. It has been almost an addiction. They curate with a capital see. And promote talents most of us haven’t heard of, but now hold in grand esteem. MUBI is far, far more than the awards-season launcher of The Substance. Though that was in itself a thrilling golden arrow added to their armoury belt.
I do owe an ongoing gratitude to MUBI, sure. For catching my eye with I, Olga Hepnarová in 2017. Or suggesting A Night of Knowing Nothing for our Femme Filmmakers Festival. A remarkable documentary from Payal Kapadia that MUBI were streaming for a limited time (Thank you, Marina). And then there was the criminally under-seen I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians by Radu Jude. What a title.
To me, and thousands of others, they were a streaming channel you could reach out and touch. They were accessible and interactive. Their message and promotional vibe about the varied reservoir of unexposed cinema was pretty unmatched. That the artform – and the glorious discovery of its deepest corners – was at the forefront of their mission. That’s what we believe, right?
A couple of weeks ago, Efe Cakirel – the founder of MUBI (and a former investment banker, but that might not be relevant) – proudly announced huge news for the indie streaming company. News which Cakirel claimed “aligned with our vision to make MUBI a true cultural movement in cinema.”. Which is pretty fucking exciting. No doubt.
Sequoia Capital have invested $100M in MUBI. Which most of you are all too aware by now, while I was beating around the journalistic bush. The Financial Times took the reigns to publish the somewhat breaking news to underground movie fans that don’t read the Financial Times. For those that don’t know by now – as much as $100m is a fuckload of money – Sequoia Capital have been around since the 1970’s. Their partners include some big apples you might have heard of, like Google, Airbnb, and, well, Apple.
Sequoia also recently landed an investment in a defense company called Kela, set up by Israeli intelligence. Some calling them zionist. Apparently they have been actively involved in supporting military with the current genocide. I have even read that investors might be settlers on occupied Palestinian land. I know, Hollywood itself has divided support. But as I squirm in my seat I have to confess that this political awfulness we have witnessed from the comfort of our warm homes is significantly out of my remit.
Sure, we all have our opinions. And the ongoing human debate is that we are entitled to that. But as a human with an opinion, and a genuine lover of MUBI ever since I can remember, this latest landmine rocks me (and many, many of you) from a film lover’s perspective. As the investment spills into unfathomable connotations, the waters are muddied and it is hard to see how long it will be before the streams run clear.
Of course, the news is very much in the tidal wave of responsiveness stage on social media. Just weeks after MUBI acquired some crucial motion pictures out of the Cannes Film Festival (Sirât, Die My Love, The Secret Agent, Sound of Falling, It Was Just an Accident to name a cracking bunch), film groups and individuals are now throwing in their MUBI towels. I found the Girls In Film and Film Workers for Palestine responses particularly notable.
Without ranking the branches of troubling dilemmas this investment may have caused, a disappointing aspect that stands all alone currently is MUBI’s own reaction to the outcry from the internet. I won’t read the whole thing out, though it would not take long given its meager length. But it is not hard for your mind to jump straight to take the money and run, regardless of MUBI’s purpose “to accelerate our mission of delivering bold and visionary films to global audiences.” A big assumption, I know. Never mind the links to horrific human conflicts or the fact Sequoia know about as much about undiscovered cinema as John the Baptist.
MUBI even attempted to declare they were aware of the immediate backlash, stating pretty much that a moderate amount of MUBI members has made comments about Sequoia’s partnership with Israeli companies. A part of the MUBI statement they perhaps thought would be the glue to mend the bridge was that “the beliefs of individual investors do not reflect the views of MUBI.” The mind boggles, but ultimately this is very, very sad.
And much of what I read across the Instagram comments in particular echoes this writer’s instinct. MUBI can talk about growth until blue in the face, but the subscribers are dropping like dead flies. Maybe it is reactionary, but not wholly. The responses radiate support for Palestine, as well as a kind of underlining – but still very apparent – melancholy for a supplier of art-house, international, distinct (and on I could go) film, that feels like a loss.
In the last couple of days or so this whole fiasco has dominated my mind. Asking myself, and on behalf of many of you: Where do we go now? Not just literally for the one-of-a-kind movie selections, but as a means to process this acquisition, and pretty much how to handle it. As film fans. True, immeasurably passionate film fans. I can’t end a war, or hand over $100m. But where do we stand, once these waters start to clear, and we can step out and look at this mess from the shore?
For now, I will keep my distance, until that gets here.
Let me know your thoughts.