Quality You Can't Touch: Mubi Social, Platform Politics, and the Online Distribution of Art Cinema

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Mubi, created in 2007, is a streaming site that specializes in art film and boutique fare. In this article, I reveal what is at stake in Mubi's recent evolution to a more highly curated "film-a-day" model, as well as the closure of the Mubi Social forum. These changes resulted in a move away from the site's reliance on democratic interaction among site users and toward a new logic of artistic patronage. Ultimately, in this analysis of Mubi's evolution, I examine the unique way that platform politics play out for boutique streamers and their impact on online cinephilia.