Critically Acclaimed ARABIAN NIGHTS comes to cinemas in April and MUBI from May

MUBI & NEW WAVE FILMS TO RELEASE MIGUEL GOMES’ CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ARABIAN NIGHTS IN UK CINEMAS IN APRIL AND EXCLUSIVELY ON MUBI IN MAY

‘Truly remarkable… One of the must-sees of the year.' – Sight & Sound

‘Surreal, giddy, erotic, didactic, righteous, exhausting, boundlessly creative and a thousand and one other things' – Time Out New York

ARABIAN NIGHTS, Gomes’ most ambitious cinematic undertaking and the most talked about film experience of last year’s Cannes Film Festival, comes to cinemas on April 22nd and exclusively to MUBI from May 2016, followed by a DVD and wide on-demand release from July 11th.

Set over three volumes, VOL I: THE RESTLESS ONE; VOL II: THE DESOLATE ONE and VOL III: THE ENCHANTED ONE, each part of the spellbinding trilogy will be released in UK cinemas a week apart starting with THE RESTLESS ONE on April 22nd. Each volume will then enjoy an exclusive launch on curated on demand service MUBI for 30 days after its theatrical release, kicking-off with THE RESTLESS ONE in May.

ARABIAN NIGHTS will receive its Scottish Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in February where it screens on 22, 24 & 25 February.

Shot on 16mm and 35mm, ARABIAN NIGHTS - loosely inspired by ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ - is a vivid and engaging account of contemporary Portugal at a time of profound austerity. Gomes channels the current struggles of economically depressed Portugal through an assortment of tales ranging from farcical yarns - an overloud cockerel, an alfresco courtroom and a wandering dog - to grounded accounts of social issues and gritty realism. 

Miguel Gomes was born in Lisbon in 1972. He studied cinema and worked as a film critic for the Portuguese press until the year 2000. Miguel has directed several short films and made his first feature The Face You Deserve in 2000. Our Beloved Month of August (2008) and Tabu (2012) came to confirm his success and international recognition. Tabu premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Alfred Bauer and FIPRESCI award; the movie was sold to over 50 countries and won dozens of awards. Retrospectives of Miguel’s work have been programmed at the Viennale, the BAFICI, the Torino Film Festival, in Germany and in the USA. Redemption, his most recent short film, premiered in 2013 at the Venice Film Festival. 

The trilogy of films adds to MUBI's recent string of exclusives which began in October 2015, with the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's Junun, following its worldwide premiere at the New York Film Festival, and also the recently rediscovered documentary on Dennis Hopper The American Dreamer. 

Recent global exclusives include: Michael Nyman's War Work, Albert Serra's Locarno Golden Leopard Winner Story of My Death and a retrospective of Peter Bo Rappmund, currently playing on MUBI.

ARABIAN NIGHTS: VOLUME 1 THE RESTLESS ONE: 125 Minutes
Theatrical release: 22nd April / MUBI launch: May 2016

ARABIAN NIGHTS: VOLUME 2 THE DESOLATE ONE: 131 Minutes
Theatrical release: 29th April / MUBI launch: May 2016

ARABIAN NIGHTS: VOLUME 3 THE ENCHANTED ONE: 125 Minutes
Theatrical release: 6th May / MUBI launch: May 2016

MUBI is a subscription video on demand service that took film curation to the next level by offering just 30 handpicked gems online. Every day one is added to the list, and one drops off the bottom. The quality of the choices means its members can watch a masterpiece or take a confident chance on a film they may not have heard of.

MUBI is centred around a philosophy of curated quality, rather than excessive choice. It believes everyone should be watching great cinema and not just be searching for it.

MUBI is a global service, streaming everyday cult, classic and award winning films to members in over 200 territories, having recently announced it will be expanding into China during 2016.

Having recently signed deals with Sony Pictures, Paramount Studios and Miramax, MUBI recently made Arabian Nights its first theatrical acquisition following its presentation at the Cannes Film Festival and in October 2015 launched Paul Thomas Anderson’s Junun as part of a global exclusive. Junun is a film about the musical collaboration between Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Shye Ben Tzur.

The MUBI subscription plans are £4.99 / $4.99 / €4.99 a month, or £39.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 for 12 months and available on the web, iPad, iPhone, Android, PlayStation, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, EE TV, Samsung Smart TVs and other internet-connected devices.

MUBI has offices in London, San Francisco and New York.

New Wave Films released Miguel Gomes’ previous film, Tabu, to great acclaim, and have released many notable films in the last few years, including Once upon a Time in Anatolia and Winter Sleep, Nostalgia for the Light, and Uncle Boonmee who can recall his Past Lives. And not just films from established directors such as Claire Denis, Bruno Dumont, Alain Resnais, Andrei Zvyagintsev and Abbas Kiarostami - in 2015 it released 5 debut films including the Oscar and BAFTA nominated Theeb.

Still on release now in its 3rd month is Jafar Panahi’s Berlin winner Taxi Tehran.

Besides Arabian Nights, other upcoming films include The Pearl Button, The Measure of a Man, My Golden Days and Cemetery of Splendour.