My Name Is Not Ali Backdrop Blur
My Name Is Not Ali Poster

My Name Is Not Ali

Travelling between Germany, France, and Tunisia, Viola Shafik reconstructs and deconstructs the unknown life story of El Hedi Ben Salem through interviews with his companions and family members as well as archival material. With openness and slight naivety, the interviewees explain how “Ali” became an oriental object of projection for the Fassbinder group, while El Hedi Ben Salem, the human being, was overlooked in order to establish the foreigner as “other.” A no-frills examination of a piece of German and Munich film history.

Top Cast

  • El Hedi ben Salem

    El Hedi ben Salem

    Self (archive footage)

  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder

    Rainer Werner Fassbinder

    Self (archive footage)

  • Abd El-Kader Jarrary

    Abd El-Kader Jarrary

    Self (Ben Salem's Son)

  • Hafsia Mellaim

    Hafsia Mellaim

    Self (Ben Salem's former wife)

  • Viola Shafik

    Viola Shafik

    Self (voice)

  • Renate Leiffer

    Renate Leiffer

    Self

  • Irm Hermann

    Irm Hermann

    Self

  • Karl Scheydt

    Karl Scheydt

    Self

  • Rudolf Waldemar Brem

    Rudolf Waldemar Brem

    Self

Overview

Travelling between Germany, France, and Tunisia, Viola Shafik reconstructs and deconstructs the unknown life story of El Hedi Ben Salem through interviews with his companions and family members as well as archival material. With openness and slight naivety, the interviewees explain how “Ali” became an oriental object of projection for the Fassbinder group, while El Hedi Ben Salem, the human being, was overlooked in order to establish the foreigner as “other.” A no-frills examination of a piece of German and Munich film history.

Rating

6.3 / 10
6 Reviews
0 Popular

Recommendations

Iverson

Iverson is the ultimate legacy of NBA legend Allen Iverson, who rose from a childhood of crushing poverty in Hampton, Virginia, to become an 11-time NBA All-Star and universally recognized icon of his sport. Off the court, his audacious rejection of conservative NBA convention and unapologetic embrace of hip hop culture sent shockwaves throughout the league and influenced an entire generation. Told largely in Iverson's own words, the film charts the career highs and lows of one of the most distinctive and accomplished figures the sport of basketball has ever seen.

Iverson

7.0 2014