Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform,

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

and

film distributor A film distributor is a person responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company may be the same as, or different from, the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film. The distributor may set ...

. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available on its platform. The catalogue consists of world cinema films, such as arthouse,

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

and

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

s. Additionally, it publishes ''Notebook'', a film criticism and news publication, and provides weekly cinema tickets to selected new-release films through MUBI GO. MUBI's streaming platform is available in over 190 countries on the web, Android TV,

Chromecast Chromecast is a discontinued line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streaming media, streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The u ...

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

devices, Apple Vision Pro,

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, Amazon Fire TV,

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

, and LG and Samsung Smart TVs, as well as on mobile devices including

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

and Android.

History

The Auteurs was founded in 2007 by Turkish entrepreneur Efe Çakarel. The next year, in 2008, the American home-video distribution company

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

partnered with The Auteurs to begin a video-on-demand service. In 2010, the Auteurs changed its name to "Mubi" or "MUBI", a two-syllable word with no specific meaning that

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

s with "movie", its creators stating that they wanted "a name all audiences can say and spell, without the burden of exclusionary meaning." In January 2022, MUBI announced the acquisition of arthouse cinema production and sales company The Match Factory. Prior to the

79th Venice International Film Festival The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022, at Venice Lido in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Eur ...

world premiere, MUBI entered the TV industry by acquiring ''The Kingdom Exodus''

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

and bringing out the first two seasons of the original series in director's cuts. In 2023, the company announced MUBI Fest, its annual film festival, to be held in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The event was expanded to cities in Europe, the United States and Canada a year later. In February 2024, MUBI acquired a majority stake in Benelux distributor Cinéart. On September 20, 2024, MUBI released '' The Substance'' in theaters worldwide and received critical and commercial success, grossed $77 million as their highest grossing film ever, which received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy out of 5 nominations at 82nd Golden Globe Awards, 5

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations for Best Picture, Best Director,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, Best Actress, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the

97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...

, 5 nominations at the 78th British Academy Film Awards. In February 2025, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' published a major profile piece on MUBI and Efe Çakarel, positioning MUBI as "a real Hollywood player" following the success of ''The Substance''. At the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in May 2025, MUBI made their largest acquisition to date, as well as the largest deal closed at the festival that year, by paying $24m for distribution rights across multiple territories to Lynne Ramsay's film '' Die My Love'', starring

Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress and producer. She is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The List of high ...

and

Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. #Filmography, His filmography often sees him portraying eccentric characters across a diverse range of genres. Known for starring in both major studio productions and in ...

. In May 2025, the venture capital firm

Sequoia Capital Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, specializing in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. the firm had appro ...

invested $100 million in MUBI, valuing the company at $1 billion. However, the investment has sparked significant backlash due to Sequoia’s ties to Kela, an Israeli defense-tech startup founded by former intelligence officers during the Gaza invasion. Critics, including Film Workers for Palestine and supporters of the BDS movement, have condemned MUBI’s decision, calling for boycotts and demanding the company return the funds. MUBI has responded by distancing itself from the views of its investors, stating that the partnership aimed to support its global mission in independent cinema.

Publication

MUBI Notebook (online)

MUBI's International film publication named Notebook, is composed of daily online publications freely accessible via the website (same as streaming), which has been an essential part of the website's relevance as a curated cinema streaming service. The online publication includes a wide variety of coverage of cinema from interviews, features, columns, news, as well as coverage of selected major film festival such as

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, Berlinale,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Sundance, and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. Since 2009, the publication has featured an ongoing column named "Movie Poster of the Week" by writer Adrian Curry, which curates and discusses mostly contemporary movie posters. The column's focus allows space to discuss and highlight many territory-specific posters of well-known films around the globe. The publication is also known for its focus on a wider range of world cinema and highlight of independent, artist-driven, and experimental cinema. Since its beginning in 2009 its contributors have often published writings on sections from major film festivals that are often ignored by other publications such as

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

's Wavelengths, the Berlinale Forum Expanded, and the New York Film Festival sections Views from the Avant-Garde (until 2013), Projections (2014–2018), and more Currents (2019 - current). Throughout the years, the most consistent coverages of these sections in MUBI Notebook has been made by writers Michael Sicinski and David Hudson. In the same form as other online publications of cinema and art at large, MUBI Notebook, is open to the public for pitching and it states its pitching guidelines very clearly on its website.

Notebook Magazine (print)

In 2021 MUBI launched the Notebook Magazine, editorially independent semiannual print magazine with limited sale. The magazines are sold globally via both a subscription service (purchased separately from the streaming service) and in selected bookstores around the world. The magazine is only available in English language and has no digital archive or version available. Since issue 4, MUBI states that "Each issue will come with an exclusive surprise, just for subscribers." The magazine has publish editions with articles, interviews, and often with special materials written by filmmakers themselves. The magazine's focus is based on themes and has highlighted the work of filmmakers, artists, writers, and industry professionals with thematically resonance to the edition's focus. Some of the highlighted professionals include Yasujiro Ozu, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Emma Seligman,

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

, Ryusuke Hamaguchi,

Park Chan-wook Park Chan-wook (; born 23 August 1963) is a Koreans, South Korean film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and former film critic. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Cinema of South Korea, South Korean cinema a ...

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang (; born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films, many short films, and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of T ...

, Pedro Costa,

Alejandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean and French Experimental film, avant-garde filmmaker. Known for his films ''El Topo'' (1970), ''The Holy Mountain (1973 film), The Holy Mountain'' (1973) and ''Santa Sangre'' ...

, Tacita Dean, and Sergei Loznitsa, among many others. In issue 3, MUBI began a muti-issue series named “Things a Filmmaker Should Know” inaugurated by

. Which since has been followed by contributions from Pedro Costa (issue 4), Tacita Dean (issue 5), and Sergei Loznitsa (issue 5).

Podcasts

In 2021, MUBI launched two original podcasts. An English language podcast called ''MUBI Podcast'' produced and hosted by Rico Gagliano, and a Spanish language podcast titled ''MUBI Podcast: Encuentros'', produced in collaboration with La Corriente del Golfo, the production house founded by

Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal (; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and filmmaker. He is known for his performances in the films ''Amores perros'' (2000), ''Y tu mamá también'' (2001), ''Bad Education (2004 film), Bad Education'' (2004), ''The Mot ...

and

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer, best known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in ''Rogue One, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (2016) and the Disney+ series ''Andor (TV series), ...

. In 2023, MUBI launched an Italian-language podcast, ''MUBI Podcast: Voci Italiane Contemporanee'', in collaboration with Chora Media, hosted by critic Gianmaria Tammaro.

MUBI Productions

MUBI Productions and co-productions include '' Port Authority'' ( Danielle Lessovitz), '' Farewell Amor'' ( Ewka Msangi), '' Our Men'' (Rachel Lang), ''

Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...

'' ( Michel Franco), '' My First Film'' (Zia Anger), '' Bring Them Down'' (Christopher Andrews), '' One Fine Morning'' and ''If Love Should Die'' ( Mia Hansen-Løve), '' Gasoline Rainbow'' (the Ross brothers), '' Rosebush Pruning'' ( Karim Aïnouz), '' Father, Mother, Sister, Brother'' (

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

), ''

Witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

'' ( Elizabeth Sankey), '' Magic Farm'' ( Amalia Ulman) and '' The Mastermind'' (

Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt (; born March 3, 1964) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for her minimalism, minimalist films closely associated with slow cinema, many of which deal with working class, working-class characters in small ...

MUBI Releases

MUBI is also a film distributor. In addition to releasing films on the platform, it started distributing theatrically in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 2016, in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 2021, and in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 2025.

References

External links

* {{VOD services Film websites Internet properties established in 2007 PlayStation 4 software Social cataloging applications Subscription video on demand services Online film databases TvOS software