I am inspired by and passionate about the possibilities of film and cinema to educate, radicalise, and energise people. I am motivated to ensure that these possibilities are available and accessible to everybody by challenging and navigating the corporate stranglehold on film cultures which creates paywalls through increasingly high subscription fees. My research critically analyses the material and discursive accessibility of film and cinema by interrogating different areas of film including genre, distribution, and audiences.

Alex Hastie is a Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Energy, Construction and Environment at Coventry University. His research explores the changing spaces of film and cinema, paying particular attention to how the rise of digital entertainment platforms such as Netflix are transforming film watching and access through the use of algorithms, data extraction, and interface design. His research incorporates work from geography on film, audiencing, and the digital, as well as theories and concepts from media, film, and cultural studies. The inspiration for Alex' work originates in the study of postcolonial cinema, and so postcolonial theory plays a significant role in shaping his ideas around issues relating to film and film-watching such as access, diversity, language, and otherness. His work has been published across disciplinary boundaries in peer-reviewed journals on gender studies, geopolitics, geography, film studies, and audience studies. You can follow Alex' work on his website and blog www.alexhastie.com.

Cultural geography; film/cinema; digital streaming platforms (Netflix, MUBI etc); access and diversity in film; platform algorithms and data extraction; postcolonialism.