MUBI to release Mimosas in UK cinemas this August
David Farnor | On 17, Jul 2017
MUBI is releasing Cannes winner Mimosas in UK cinemas this August.
The subscription streaming service has made a name for itself in recent years as the go-to place to catch up with the hottest titles from the Croisette’s film festival, snapping up the rights to such films as Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights and The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki. With this year’s Cannes Film Festival sparking a heated debate about the release of films online and in cinemas, MUBI has confirmed itself as a company of cinephiles, teaming up with New Wave Films to distribute movies in cinemas before they stream exclusively on the service.
And so Oliver Laxe’s visually stunning, transcendent Mimosas is becoming the latest of their acquisitions to head to the big screen.
Set in a time gone by, it follows a band of travellers cross the Moroccan desert to bury an elderly sheikh. While most of the group dissolves, two travellers contemplate robbing the group before a change of heart leads them to take the sheikh’s body on path to its rightful home. The introduction of a third man from modern times offers to help escort the caravan on its arduous journey.
Structured in chapters based on Sufi prayer positions, the film’s subtle procession through rugged landscapes is presented as a phantasmagorical journey through time and place.
Shot on 16mm, it’s the second feature by the Morocco-based Spanish filmmaker. In 2010, his debut You All Are Captains was shown in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, and took home the FIPRESCI prize before travelling to festivals around the world.
The film will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 25th August, before arriving on MUBI later this year.