The Movie Waffler BLACK BEAR and APPLES Headline MUBI UK’s August Line-Up | The Movie Waffler

BLACK BEAR and APPLES Headline MUBI UK’s August Line-Up

black bear
The arthouse streaming service has announced its August roster.

This August, MUBI UK's exclusive showcase of recent releases are Lawrence Michael Levine’s Black Bear (2020) and Christos Nikou’s Apples (2020).


black bear

Black Bear
Featuring runaway performances from Aubrey Plaza, Sarah Gadon and Christopher Abbott, Black Bear follows Allison (Plaza), a filmmaker battling writer’s block who arrives as a guest to a troubled couple (Abbott and Gadon) at a remote lake house, only to find that the woods summon her inner demons in intense and surprising ways.


apples

Apples
A moving and satirical new entry to the Greek Weird Wave, Apples follows a man that appears to succumb to a strange condition affecting the whole world: people are being randomly afflicted with amnesia. For the unlucky few who have no family and are found lacking any ID, they are forced to start life anew in a peculiar state-sponsored programme.


varda abroad

Varda Abroad
Agnès Varda travelled around the world, collecting stories to share with her signature flare and warmth. This season MUBI celebrates three of her discoveries from her time in Cuba and the States. Their selection includes Salut Les Cubains (1963), Black Panthers (1968) and Lions Love (1969).




24 hour party people

Turn It Up: Music on Film
This spotlight celebrates cinema’s intimate dance with music. It features Grant Gee’s documentary Joy Division (2007); Michael Winterbottom’s Palme d'Or nominated 24 Hour Party People (2002) starring Steve Coogan; Glenn Leyburn & Lisa Barros D'Sa’s Good Vibrations (2012) and Tom DiCillo’s documentary about The Doors, When You’re Strange (2009).


brother

Russian Dark: The Films of Aleksey Balabanov
This month, MUBI spotlights the work of Russian filmmaker Aleksey Balabanov, whose films fused violence, humour and rock music to convey a darkly compelling vision of the last days of communism and post-Soviet society. In Brother (1997), the innocent-looking Danila (Sergei Bodrov) returns from army service to St. Petersburg. But soon, the young man is accompanying his brother, a contract killer, through the Russian underworld…
 
The focus will also include Cargo 200 (2007), Of Freaks and Men (1998), Brother 2 (2000), Morphine (2008), Dead Man’s Bluff (2005), It Doesn’t Hurt (2006), War (2002), The Castle (1994), The River (2002), Trofim (1995), Me Too (2012) and A Stoker (2010).



All Hands on Deck
On an impulse, Félix decides to surprise Alma, a woman he’s met just a few days before, where she is holidaying, and enrolls a friend in the adventure. This lush, summer road trip film from Guillaume Brac (Berlinale '20) is a delightful gem to accompany us on our vacations this August!



The Cloud in Her Room
When Muzi returns home to Hangzhou for Chinese New Year, she finds the city covered in mist. Failing to connect with those around her, she takes comfort in solitude and deserted city spaces at night. Winner of the Tiger Award in Rotterdam 2020, this debut film by Zheng Lu Xinyuan captures an alienated, global generation in flux.


menarca

Menarca
In a Brazilian village infested with piranhas, Nanã and Mel are fast growing into adolescence, as they dream of ways to protect themselves against a seemingly inescapable violence. A reinterpretation of the myth of the vagina dentata, Menarca (Cannes '20) is a feminist call to arms, which strikes an incredible balance between magical realism and a present-day social realist parable.



Lina from Lima
Lina is a Peruvian woman who works as a domestic helper for a wealthy Chilean family. At Christmas, she prepares for her annual trip home, but this year she comes to the stark realisation that no one is really waiting for her there. A revisiting of the musical comedy genre born from a documentary project, this joyful portrait of a migrant woman also brings to light stark realities.



Purple Sea
Syrian artist Amel Alzakout documented her journey to Europe with smugglers across the Mediterranean Sea to join her partner. The result is a visceral, raw and immersive vision floating between terror and beauty, Purple Sea (Berlinale '20) is a radical essay film, and a profound testimony to being caught in the liminal space between statelessness and survival.