Alternative Streaming Options
It’s been a month since my last visit to the cinema and I miss it immensely. Whilst many are catching up on films, I’m struggling to watch as many films as I thought I’d be watching during this time, let alone completing a film in one go. My concentration levels are down and anxiety levels are still up.
But many I know told me they never had time to watch films during life before COVID-19 and are now happy to catch up on films whilst staying at home.
There has been an excessive amount of recommended films to watch online by publications everywhere, and many promoting the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Annoyingly, there’s this misconception that all films are on Netflix, some now even just saying “I’m watching Netflix” to indicate they are watching films. Whilst there are some good films to watch there, most of them are lost in a sea of mediocre ones and the so called algorithm is unreliable.
There are other streaming and video-on-demand platforms worth checking too.
iTunes has a selection of new releases, including independent films, that you can rent for as little as AED 19.99. It also has a selection of 1940s-1980s classics too if you want to discover or revisit favourite classics.
Mubi is an online streaming service, with a curated selection of films “from gems to festival-fresh cinema…from cult classics to award-winning masterpieces”. There are only 30 films at any one time and you only have 30 days to watch a film before it is replaced with a new title. There’s a standard one month free trial before you have to pay for the service.
I thought to myself this is a good opportunity to share with you other streaming options available in the UAE to watch at home - for the sake of diversity and to not to have giant corporations monopolising what you watch.
Perhaps now is a good time to try and watch different films, especially short films or experimental films that you wouldn’t have had a chance to watch before.
The suggestions below are free and available in the UAE and worldwide. Where possible, please try to donate when you can. Think of it as buying a regular cheap cinema ticket to help support the artists and filmmakers. (If you have not yet read my last post Culture Bubble in the UAE, please do so now to know the importance of showing support to artists everywhere during this time.)
Click on each name listed below to visit the website.
Abbout Productions produces feature films and documentaries and supports Arabic-language movies with a distinctly Arab voice, expressing the identity of the region.
They are currently making their films available online one by one to watch for free, releasing a new title every week or two.
Follow their account on Twitter or Instagram, or Facebook for updates.
The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) launched “Screens and Streams” last week, a program that changes every week showcasing independent films from the Arb world that were produced between 2008 and 2016.
It includes short films and feature films too (with English subtitles). It also includes curated music playlists too.
On March 25 Ayam Beirut, a film festival for independent Arab films announced Aflamuna, “an initiative launched by a group of Arab filmmakers and film institutions” streaming for free a selection of contemporary Arab cinema that gets changed every 15 days.
The films include English subtitles.
Berlin’s Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art runs a 2 screen venue, Arsenal 1 and Arsenal 2.
Like all cinemas, it too has closed its doors. It launched Arsenal 3 to continue running its anniversary program for the 50th Berlinale Forum and the Forum Expanded exhibition “Part of the Problem” which was cut short in its physical premises.
The online version of the program started 3 weeks ago, and the film selection which includes features and experimental films changes every week available to viewers worldwide. The non-English language films include English subtitles.
La Cinematheque française launched HENRI, its new streaming service which is available worldwide and free to watch as an option to watch films at home.
The site is in French only, and a new film, mostly classics so far, is being added almost daily.
If your attention span is only ready for short films, this one is for you. Le Cinéma Club was founded in 2015. It is a curated streaming platform screening one film every week, for free and available to access worldwide.
The films vary in genre and length, with special attention given to short formats which normally are hard to watch in cinemas.
The website also includes extensive film notes for each film.
Cinemoz was launched in 2011. It started off as a streaming website for Arabic films, including a good selection of Arabic classic films.
It now has old and new Arabic and English language films, plus a selection of films from India too.
Unfortunately, the classics in Arabic language do not include English subtitles. It also doesn’t have a menu option to browse films by language or year. So this one will need some time to go through the selection of films to make a choice.
DAFilms is Video on Demand website for the best of European and world cinema. It includes films from seven significant European documentary film festivals (CPH:DOX, Doclisboa, Docs Against Gravity FF, DOK Leipzig, FIDMarseille, Ji.hlava, IDFF, Visions du Réel).
You can watch films for free by using the “pay by share” option - after registration or sign up, you can watch one film of your choice for free in exchange for sharing it on your social media. But that only gives you access to a small selection of films that’s primarily student films.
Or you can pay a small amount per film or pay for an annual subscription to be able to buy/download the film.
The National Film Preservation Foundation aims to save America's film heritage. Its activities include preserving American films and providing access to its film collection for education and exhibitions.
The online “Screening Room” includes a selection of curated programs, which includes lost and found films, films from other national archives, experimental films, plus old commercials and educational clips too. This site is great if you have a strong appreciation for film history.
The renowned documentary film festival IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has 100s of films online for free, and currently has 200 films that can be watched worldwide for free.
There’s an additional selection of 500 films that can be watched for a small fee which goes directly to the filmmakers, distributors, or other rights holder of the film.
The Korean Film Archive on YouTube has more than 100 films from the the 1930s onwards available for free viewing.
It currently features 7 films from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s 10 Korean films list suggested for 'Korean Cinema: Carte Blanche to Bong Joon-ho' that screened at the Lumiere Film Festival last year.
Parachute Films is a film production company based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
They’ve put together a list of award-winning and undiscovered short and feature films by Georgian filmmakers, “who have been sharing their work online for free to encourage you to stay home and flatten the COVID-19 curve”.
The list of films is updated every day upon the request of the filmmakers.
This Long Century is a website featuring a growing collection of “personal insights from artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and cultural icons the world over”.
For the month of April, there’s a selection of films and video works by past contributors divided into two programs, OUTSIDE and INSIDE, with 30 films in total.
“The cave of forgotten films” is the only description available about Rare Filmm. The films can be streamed or downloaded, and includes an international selection of films of many genres from 1910s-2000s.
The image quality of the films may not be the best, but there’s a great selection of obscure titles to discover. One title that caught my attention, Disco Fever (aka Jukebox) from 1978, directed by Lamar Card and starring Casey Kasem.
Reel Palestine is an annual film festival that takes place in Dubai. It screens films focusing on “real stories of the Palestinian people and also highlight the importance of art and culture”.
The “Home Edition” aims to share films online during this period and links to new titles are added daily.
The selection includes short and feature length films with English subtitles.
Ubuweb was founded in 1996 by Kenneth Goldsmith and a terrific resource for all things avant-garde, including film, audio and text.
”Run with no money, Ubu has succeeded by breaking all the rules, by going about things the wrong way. UbuWeb can be construed as the Robin Hood of the avant-garde, but instead of taking from one and giving to the other, we feel that in the end, we're giving to all.”
Vdrome has been around since 2013. It’s an “online cinema that offers regular, high quality screenings of films and videos directed by visual artists and filmmakers whose production lies in-between contemporary art and cinema”.
There’s always one film shown at a time which stays online for two weeks and includes a written introduction to the film or an interview with the filmmaker
A lot of people talk about the YouTube rabbit hole. But how about trying Vimeo’s rabbit hole? Vimeo Channels has thousands of videos in different categories that you can lose yourself too if looking for visual distraction.
There’s also Vimeo On Demand where you can rent/buy films that include documentaries, features, animation and much more.