Two More Free Films From MUBI

We have two more free treats for MUBI users this week.
The first is for Tim Burton fans, Lewis Caroll mythologists, and silent cinema nuts. We’re showing the very first film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Filmed in 1903 by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow and clocking in at a rapid (or should I say “rabbit”?) 10 minutes (originally 12, some footage has been lost forever), this little gem is nothing but the Alice-essentials. Made just 37 years after the novel’s original publication and based on Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations for the book, this version was the longest film produced in England at its time, and is now presented by us after having been lovingly restored by the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive.
Watch Alice in Wonderland (Cecil Hepworth & Percy Stow, 1903) for free here or through MUBI on your PlayStation 3.

The other film we are showing for free is Metin Erksan’s Dry Summer (1964). It is, or should I say was, a lost gem. Like our first film mentioned in this column, Kim Ki-young’s The Housemaid, Erksan’s masterpiece was unearthed and restored by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, a wonderful organization dedicated not only to restoring and preserving cinema’s heritage but also dedicated to getting these great films seen. Which is why they partnered with us! Dry Summer may have a reputation in Turkey, where it was made, but before the WCF got to it, few had heard of it elsewhere. While The Housemaid had an international reputation before its re-release but was simply too hard to see, Dry Summer is what we might call a real discovery; something almost entirely unknown to most audiences.
Fatih Akin, the terrific Turkish-German filmmaker (he made 2004’s Head-on and 2007’s The Edge of Heaven), has this to say about Erskan’s film:
“Authorities at the time objected to Dry Summer representing Turkey overseas, which presented all kinds of obstacles when the film came to the Berlin Film Festival. The film walked away with the Golden Bear, but before success could even be celebrated it was ‘taken captive’ and completely forgotten for the next 45 years. Today, in these times of intellectually dry summers, when greed is driving humanity to the brink of starvation, this film could hardly be more valid. Dry Summer is one of the most important legacies of Turkish cinema, and thanks to restoration it can be re-discovered by the next generations of audiences all over the world.”

And as if that’s not enough to convince you to explore this title, just take a look at this still!
Watch Dry Summer (Metin Erksan, 1964) for free here or through MUBI on your PlayStation 3. Also, be in with a chance of winning a monthly subscription by entering a MUBI film quiz at eu.playstation.com/psn/competitions. Open to residents the following countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Enjoy those free movies and I’ll see you in the comments.