[Interview] - Matkai Burmaster giving Indie Film a voice with Fearless

Films are made to be seen and in the world of independent film competition to be seen is rife. Film festivals bring an audience and recognition, but it's all over in a few days. YouTube as a global platform is so vast that it can hard for a film maker's work to be seen. Although platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime do feature some independent titles, too many are left by the wayside, especially minority voices. 'Fearless' is a streaming service specifically for the independent film market giving a platform and a voice with focus on diversity inclusivity.  

[Interview] Going Undercover with Rising Action Star Saj Ali

British born actor and martial artist Saj Ali has become a staple of the independent short film circuit  with his own brand of high kicking high octane action. Having started training in martial arts a little later in life Saj's impressive and agile skills moved from dojo to celluloid in award winning short films. Though he has only featured in a handful of productions Saj continues to step up his persona and skills on film with his eyes set on the action star prize. 

Saj takes pride on his collaborations with other like minded performers and film makers, including David Cheung, and Lee Adamassie and all of whom met through the festival circuit. The films have a unique gritty feel with jaw dropping fight action that have won Saj and his collaborators various accolades around the world. Even in lockdown Saj never stops training and developing projects and we are pleased he has taken time out to speak to Cine Bijou.

[Interview] - Searching for Action Heroes with Oliver Harper

To describe Oliver Harper as a YouTube star would be both accurate yet somewhat disingenuous. Yes he is a successful YouTube personality - his programme 'Oliver Harper's Retrospectives and Reviews' has up to 165,000 subscribers and since it's founding in 2011 features over 530 videos that have amassed between around 42 million views. However Oliver is not the star in his videos, whether it's a review or a nostalgic retrospective of a cinema classic it is the film that is the star. Each episode is packed with factual insights made up of production trivia, news reports interwoven with his own thoughts on the film, and are produced to the sort of high quality equal to the best television productions of the BBC. Oliver can best described as a film journalist providing the sort of middle ground insightful reviews delivered with the eloquence and dry humour of the late and legendary film reviewer Barry Norman.