Background
Ali was born in Bangladesh, arrived to England at the age of two in 1980 and grew up in Aldgate where he still lives.
Ali was born in Bangladesh, arrived to England at the age of two in 1980 and grew up in Aldgate where he still lives.
Ali attended Sir John Cass Redcoat School and says he "didn"t do too well at GCSE." He learned film and photography at Epping Forest College. In 2004, he graduated with a 2:1 in Bachelor Film and Broadcast Productions from London Metropolitan University.
He is best known for his film Shongram, the first time a British film has been simultaneously written, produced and directed by a British Bangladeshi. From an early age Ali was influenced by film and in his late teens he took an interest in looking at alternative points of view in mainstream cinema. Going to the cinema a lot as a teenager gave him his inspiration.
However, he "was confused and couldn"t commit to A-level," so he left in the second year.
Ali"s father was born in British India (now Bangladesh). Ali"s father has been in the United Kingdom since early 1950s.
He gave up his Bangladeshi citizenship and became a British citizen. The majority of Ali"s relatives live in the United Kingdom. After graduating, Ali made documentaries and short films on social issues such as policing, knife crime and gang violence.
In 2003, he set up an independent video and film production company Spotlight United Kingdom before formalising it as a company in 2005.
Since then he has worked alongside global United States, United Kingdom and Bollywood names. In September 2006, he founded Limelight Film, an initiative to identify and celebrate emerging film talent. With the first event taking place in 2007, it is one of the largest independent short film awards ceremony.
In 2009, he founded Epic Media Wedding Productions and set about specialising in producing cinematic quality wedding videos.
Ali has participated in dialogues and featured on television, radio and press, including British Broadcasting Corporation, British Broadcasting Corporation London, East End Life and Wharf. In 2014, Ali wrote, directed and produced his debut feature film Shongram.
The film is a romantic drama set during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. He worked on the project for three years and it was the first time a British film was simultaneously written, produced and directed by a British Bangladeshi.
In February, March and June 2014, he was interviewed by Nadia Ali on British Broadcasting Corporation Asian Network.