July on MUBI UK is headlined by the long-awaited UK streaming premiere of
Kelly Reichardt's
First Cow, Pedro Almodóvar's short The Human Voice and
Christian Petzold's
Undine.
First Cow
Award-winning director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy, Old Joy) returns with the eagerly awaited First Cow, a gripping and glorious story of friendship and petty crime on the harsh
frontier of the Pacific Northwest which will be streaming exclusively on
MUBI from this month after its recent theatrical release.
In 1820s Oregon, two loners team up to seek their fortune through a scheme
to steal milk from the wealthy landowner’s prized Jersey cow – the first,
and only, in the territory – to create delicious fried cakes for sale at the
market.
MUBI Spotlight
This month’s MUBI Spotlights, fresh from their releases in UK cinemas and
exclusively on MUBI, are Christian Petzold’s
Undine (2020) and Pedro Almodóvar’s
The Human Voice (2020).
Petzold’s latest, presented as part of MUBI's retrospective “Phantoms
Among Us: The Films of Christian Petzold”, is a mythical romance starring
the magnetic duo composed by Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer,
who won a Silver Bear at the Berlinale for her performance.
Almodóvar’s short The Human Voice, adapted from a play by Jean Cocteau, places
Tilda Swinton’s incredible talent and charisma front and centre, as
her character reckons with the effects of a breakup alone in her
apartment.
Cannes Takeover
As per their yearly tradition, this July MUBI celebrates one of the biggest
events in the film world, the Cannes Film Festival, by curating a programme
that runs alongside the festival for those who can’t be on the Croisette.
Their selection includes Bruno Dumont’s
Jeannette - The Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017),
Justine Triet’s Sybil (2019), Naomi Kawase’s
Radiance
(2017), and exclusives such as Nicolas Parisier’s
Alice and The Mayor (2019), Lav Diaz’s
The Halt (2019) and Dharmasena Pathiraja’s
The Wasps are Here (1978).
On Your Marks: A Cinematic Olympiad
On the occasion of this year’s Olympics, MUBI dedicates a special programme
to sports and the different ways they’re portrayed on screen, both in
fiction and documentaries. Starting a couple of weeks before the Opening
Ceremony, the first title in the series will be Pascal Plante’s
Cannes 2020 selection Nadia, Butterfly (2020), a Canadian
coming-of-age tale exploring female athleticism and life after professional
sports. Other titles include Juho Kuosmanen’s
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki (2016),
Věra Chytilová’s Something Different (1963),
Yvonne Rainer’s Volleyball (Foot Film) (1967), and
Naziha Arebi’s Freedom Fields (2018).
Becoming and Belonging: An Ayo Akingbade Focus
This month, MUBI spotlights the work of celebrated experimental artist and
filmmaker Ayo Akingbade, whose films focus on social housing in
London, gentrification, community and Black British identity. The three
titles they’ve selected are Dear Babylon (2019),
Claudette’s Star (2019) and
Fire in My Belly (2021), the latter commissioned by and
currently showing at Whitechapel Gallery.
Dystopia
MUBI's series of dystopian visions continues in July with three titles:
Elio Petri’s retro-futurist science-fiction satire
The 10th Victim (1965), starring legends
Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress,
Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s
Jessica Forever (2018), a vision of platonic love in a
pre-apocalyptic world with feminist undertones, and Lav Diaz’s dark
political satire The Halt (2019).
Alice and the Mayor
Shot on luscious film and featuring a '70s inspired score, this
quintessentially French film is a portrait of the behind-the-scenes of
Lyon’s city hall, starring Fabrice Luchini as the mayor and
reflecting on current politics with a lightness of touch.
The Halt
Balancing between a searingly grotesque parody and political satire, this
darkly despotic, black-and-white near-future sci-fi epic about the rule of a
crazed dictator is Lav Diaz at his most accessible.
The Wasps are Here
A masterpiece by Dharmasena Pathiraja and a pioneering work in Sri
Lankan cinema, The Wasps are Here is a story about the clash
between capitalism and business versus traditions and local culture,
presented in a stunning 4K restoration.
Air Conditioner
Air conditioners start to mysteriously fall from buildings in this urban
sci-fi hybrid filled with deadpan humour. Gently surreal and shot in vibrant
colours, this debut by Fradique is a critique of former Portuguese
colonialism and the national trauma that shaped Angola.
The Unseen River
In this two-pronged tale, united by the serenity of its setting along the
Mekong River, a woman reunites with her ex-lover at a hydroelectric plant;
meanwhile, while a young man travels downstream to a temple in search of a
cure for his insomnia.
