Highlights from the August line-up are as follows:
MUBI RELEASES: A CHIARA
The third in his loosely-connected ‘Calabrian trilogy’ (following Mediterranea and A Ciambra), Jonas Carpignano explores the true meaning of family in A Chiara (2021), a gritty neorealist drama that tells the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl grappling with the sins of her father.
In an astonishing, award-winning central performance, Swamy Rotolo plays Chiara, the 15-year-old daughter of the affluent Guerrasio family (all played by Rotolo’s real-life family) who live a seemingly idyllic life in the Calabrian city of Gioia Tauro. When her father Claudio (Claudio Rotolo) suddenly disappears after her sister’s 18th birthday party, Chiara embarks on a dangerous investigation that draws her deeper into the mafia underworld, gradually discovering that her family’s ties to the local crime world are more troubling than she thought.
Vividly brought to life by Tim Curtin’s (Beasts of the Southern Wild) cinematography as well as its powerful, naturalistic performances, the film won the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film, in the Cannes 2021 Directors’ Fortnight.
WATCH TRAILER HERE
A Chiara (Jonas Carpignano, 2021) – August 26
An emerging talent in contemporary cinema, Jonas Carpignano crafts intimate, neorealist tales of lives on the fringes of Italian society. Etched with an emotional authenticity and straddling the line between fiction and documentary, we present Jonas Carpignano’s Calabria: A Double Bill, featuring his previous feature A Ciambra (2017).
A Ciambra (Jonas Carpignano, 2017) – August 11
MUBI RELEASES: FAYA DAYI
From Mexican-Ethiopian director and cinematographer Jessica Bashir, Faya Dayi (2021) is a lyrical, spiritual journey into the rituals and trade practices of Khat, a stimulant green leaf that – according to Ethiopian legend – was founded by Sufi Imams in search of eternity.
A hypnotic blend of documentary and drama, this immersive experience weaves a tapestry of intimate stories of people for whom chewing this lucrative crop has become a form of religious meditation, radical escape and a space of socialisation and revolt against oppressive forces.
Beshir’s visually breathtaking debut examines the landscape through vignettes that highlight the vast economic and social force of Khat, channelling its rebellion and reverence into an ode to the country’s turbulent past unfolding into its urgent present.
WATCH TRAILER HERE
Faya Dayi (Jessica Beshir, 2021) – August 10
MUBI RELEASES: BABYSITTER
The sophomore feature Babysitter (2022), directed by and starring Monia Chokri (revealed on the big screen by Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats), arrives exclusively on MUBI following its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
After going viral for drunkenly accosting a television reporter, Cédric (Patrick Hivon) is suspended from work and finds himself stuck at home with his exhausted wife Nadine (Chokri) and shrieking infant daughter. Enter babysitter Amy (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), a captivating young woman who forces them to confront their sexual anxieties while turning their lives upside down.
Adapted from Catherine Léger’s stage play of the same name, the wholly enjoyable psychosexual comedy mixes gender satire and screwball farce wrapped in a highly stylised retro-aesthetic.
Babysitter (Monia Chokri, 2022) – August 19
MUBI SPOTLIGHT: PARIS 13TH DISTRICT
The latest from acclaimed, award-winning filmmaker Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone), Paris 13th District (2021) is a scintillating comedy-drama that explores 21st century sexual and social manners set among the young local residents of Les Olympiades, a vibrant neighbourhood in the French capital’s 13th arrondissement.
Co-written by Céline Sciamma (Petite Maman, Girlhood) and Léa Mysius (The Five Devils, Ava) and based on a collection of Adrian Tomine’s celebrated short stories, , the film features an ensemble cast of loosely-connected characters who alternate between being friends and sometimes lovers, all the while exploring life, love and the pursuit of connection in the digital age.
WATCH TRAILER HERE
Paris 13th District (Jacques Audiard, 2021) – August 4
MUBI SPOTLIGHT: TAMING THE GARDEN
Salomé Jashi’s Taming the Garden (2021) is a haunting tale capturing the clash between man and nature as she observes the former prime minister of Georgia collecting century old trees along Georgia’s coastline, uprooting them from their lands to be transplanted into his private garden.
With a surreal, Herzogian eye for the absurdity of human claims on nature, this hypnotic documentary engages privilege and poverty in the embrace of myth. A folkloric allegory narrated with breathtaking images that contemplates an ecological monument to madness and extravagance.
Taming the Garden (Salomé Jashi, 2021) – August 12
FESTIVAL FOCUS: LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
Direct from the small lakeside Swiss town and one of the world’s most important destinations for new visions and the best of international cinema, the Locarno Film Festival returns to MUBI with a brand new selection of bold, adventurous titles from the 2021 edition.
This year’s series includes: Squish! (2021) a vibrant exploration of identity and mental health informed by Thai animation history, Holy Emy (2021), a mythical story about the liberation and emancipation of two sisters within their tight-knit Filipino Catholic community in Athens, Emilie Aussel’s feature debut Our Eternal Summer (2021) which follows the carefree summer days of a group of teenagers who suddenly have to grapple with the world’s cruel side for the very first time, and Public Toilet Africa (2021), a satirical revenge tale from up-and-coming Ghanaian filmmaker Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah.
Our Eternal Summer (Emilie Aussel, 2021) – August 3
Holy Emy (Araceli Lemos,, 2021) – August 5
Squish! (Tulapop Saenjaroen, 2021) – August 8
Public Toilet Africa (Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah, 2021) – August 9
THE ONE AND ONLY: TILDA SWINTON
MUBI is proud to present The One and Only: Tilda Swinton, a special season spotlighting the beloved and ever-fascinating chameleonic actress. A frequent collaborator of directors Derek Jarman, Luca Guadagnino, and Jim Jarmusch, the world has seen her transform and shapeshift into some of the most iconic of roles.
This focus will showcase the wide variety of Swinton’s performances across genres, from sci-fi to comedy, spanning her decades-long career. Some highlights: include Joanna Hogg’s graduation short film Caprice (1986), feminist sci-fi comedy Teknolust (2002), in which Swinton plays 4 characters, and Sally Potter’s Orlando (1992).
The Human Voice (Pedro Almodóvar, 2020) – July 23
Julia (Erick Zonca, 2008) – July 31
Caprice (Joanna Hogg, 1986) – August 13
Cycling Frame (Cynthia Beatt, 1988) – August 13
The Invisible Frame (Cynthia Beatt, 2009) – August 22
Egomania: Island Without Hope (Christoph Schlingernsief, 1986) – August 30
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmush, 2013) – September 4
The Box (Jes Benstock, Luke Losey, 1996) – September 7
Teknolust (Lynn Hershman-Leeson, 2002) – September 18
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011) – September 25
Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992) – Coming Soon
MIA HANSEN-LØVE: THINGS TO COME AND GO
Following the MUBI release of Mia Hansen-Løve’s Swedish summer tale Bergman Island (2021), we revisit the auteur’s beloved semi-autobiographical works that push the boundaries between fiction and reality. The series includes Goodbye First Love (2011), where besotted teenagers overcome the loss of first love, and The Father of My Children (2009), where a father struggles to balance his family life with his failing business. Exploring love, loss and the unexpected things the universe throws our way, Hansen-Løve captures the twists and turns of life with simplicity and charm.
Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2021) – July 22
The Father of My Children (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2009) – August 21
Goodbye First Love (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2011) – August 28
Things To Come (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2016) – Coming Soon
SPOTLIGHT ON TED FENDT
The latest films from acclaimed, multi-hyphenate American filmmaker, translator, and projectionist Ted Fendt form this month’s director focus. Fendt’s low-budget, compact indie features explore the tragicomic dimension of the everyday through narrative restraint, intellectual curiosity and deadpan humour. Often working with friends and nonprofessional actors and even appearing in the films themselves, this selection includes Outside Noise (2021), Classical Period (2018) and Short Stay (2016) – each clocking in at around 60 minutes.
Outside Noise (Ted Fendt, 2021) – August 31
Short Stay (Ted Fendt, 2016) – August 31
Classical Period (Ted Fendt, 2018) – September 1
JULES DASSIN: A DOUBLE BILL
MUBI presents two haunting masterworks from Jules Dassin – the American filmmaker once blacklisted from Hollywood during the McCarthy Era. Made within 9 months of one another and known for their hard-hitting grit and stark cinematography, Brute Force (1947), the prison melodrama starring Burt Lancaster, and The Naked City (1948), the first film shot entirely on location in New York City, arrive on the platform this month.
Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947) – August 17
The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948) – August 29
MUBI RELEASES
Exclusive streaming premieres from the most prestigious international film festivals and rediscovered classics selected by MUBI’s curators
[Brief Encounters] Tulapop Saenjaroen’s meditation on the self through lurid and liquid forms, Squish! (2021), is a funny and vibrant exploration of identity and mental health in a late capitalist world. Employing a fascinating range of visual techniques filtered through both old and foreseeable technology informed by Thai animation history and contemporary culture, Saenjaroen explores the constant process of constructing and deforming new selves.
Squish! (Tulapop Saenjaroen, 2021) – August 8
[Viewfinder]Between Two Dawns (2021), the harrowing debut thriller from newcomer Selman Nacar, paints an eye-opening portrait of contemporary Turkey and its economic divide. Following Kadir after a worker is severely injured in his family business, he is forced to reckon with the consequences of his moral decisions and the impact they have on his dreams, his family and the life of the injured worker’s wife.
Between Two Dawns (Selman Nacar, 2021) – August 15
[Rediscovered] The only feature film by painter György Kovásznai, a pioneer of Hungarian animation, Bubble Bath (1980) arrives on MUBI this month. A neurotic interior decorator, Zsolt, finds himself getting cold feet on the day of his nuptials. He takes refuge in the apartment of Anni, an acquaintance of Klári, his bride-to-be, whilst Klári herself is enjoying the wedding party too much to care about her absent groom. The barrage of screwball antics, musical moments and elements of romantic comedy along with the bold graphics and experimental soundscapes still inspire animators today.
Bubble Bath (György Kovászna, 1979) – August 24
[The New Auteurs] Ted Fendt’s latest, Outside Noise (2021), is a tale full of commonplace incidents and deadpan vignettes exploring friendship, dissatisfaction and the pleasures and anxieties of the in-between years of your early thirties. The film follows Daniela, a restless woman in Vienna, who tries to find a way out of what she terms a “constant liminal phase” by wandering around her neighbourhood and spending time with two friends, Mia and Natascha, visiting from Berlin. Shot on textured 16mm film, glowing with natural light and co-written by Fendt and his two lead actors, Daniela Zahlner and Mia Sellmann.
Outside Noise (Ted Fendt, 2021) – August 31
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