MUBI - Case study with Svetlana Naudiyal

Martin Scorsese once said, "Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out." I guess, MUBI also has a similar viewpoint. They are particular of which movie is on the platform and which is out.

Svetlana Naudiyal joins us Audiogyan. She is a Director of content at MUBI India. Svetlana has a rich background in cinema, content, and curation. She has worked previously in different capacities for NFDC, MAMI, Drishyam Films to name a few.

We will try and understand how curation happens at MUBI and few aspects about curation of cinema.

1. I will start with the most meta-question - What is curation according to you in the cinema context?
2. Who are these people, who watch the cinema showcased on MUBI? Can you share any personas/demographics of this audience? How do you map films for them?
3. At MUBI, how does curation work? If it has to be parametrized, what are possible tangible parameters, and what are intangible? How do you guess the bigger unknown of the audience finding the connection with the film?
4. What is your definition of experimental cinema? How abstract can it go and still be called as cinema? From Kamal Swaroop's Om Dar Ba Dar to Amit Dutta's The museum of imagination to Andy Warhol's eating the burger.
5. After working for MAMI, NFDC, and many such places, how has your definition of cinema evolved? Today, how do you look at censorship and outer limits of freedom of expression in the context of cinema?
6. I have been a consumer of both formats of content. Slow films like "Uttoron" on MUBI and "Departed" on other OTT platforms. MUBI being classic seems a bit slow at times. How do you convince yourself that there are people out there who are likely and will definitely watch slow films by Godard & Mani Kaul?
7. What is the long term future of independent and parallel cinema?
8. A classic cliche question, which movie one should watch this weekend and get a flavor of MUBI's content curation?

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