Ali enjoys working closely with other artists to create films that respond to the ideas, materials, and processes behind their work. These films offer a considered artistic response to extend the experience of the work itself.
HANDS OF WE WILL SING
Hands of We Will Sing is a 15-minute film that follows internationally acclaimed artist Ann Hamilton over the course of a year as she created We Will Sing, the incredible installation inhabiting the three rooftop spaces of Salts Mill in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Through observation, the film follows the processes and conceptual thinking behind the work while capturing its scale, intimacy, and beauty as it unfolded across vast spaces.
Hands of We Will Sing was commissioned by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture in partnership with Arts Council England, and was exhibited alongside the installation itself at Salts Mill Bradford, between May and November 2025.
We Will Sing was created in collaboration with singer songwriter Emily Eagan and curators June Hill and Jen Hallam. The film score and cinematography by Tom Diffenthal, and the edit was brought together by Lauren Dowling.
www.annhamiltonstudio.com
www.wewillsingfilm.com
HIBISCUS RISING
Filmed over the development of Hibiscus Rising, this short film explores Yinka Shonibare’s approach to creating a 9.5-metre public sculpture commissioned for the centre of Leeds in November 2023. The vibrant hibiscus artwork commemorates David Oluwale, who drowned in the River Aire in 1969 following sustained police harassment. It stands as a powerful symbol of hope, diversity, and a new legacy for Leeds.
The film was initially used to support fundraising for the sculpture itself, before being exhibited at The Tetley along with the unveiling of the sculpture and later at the Stephen Friedman Gallery Soho London, alongside Shonibare’s work in autumn 2024.
Animation by http://www.mellonby.com
https://yinkashonibare.com
CAMBODIA
The exhibition film made for sculptor John Buckley invites the viewer to inhabit the tension between endurance and vulnerability, honouring both the fragility of those who survive and the artist who bears witness on their behalf.
The sculptures Buckley created are not only memorials, assembled from found materials and objects once used to make artificial limbs for those maimed by landmines - but also emotional shields, forged from shock, empathy, and the need to transform trauma into form. The film extends this act of translation. Through the camera, we witness a fragile space between survivor, artist, and artwork - a triangulation of pain, witnessing, and making. The lens does not look at suffering, but through the artist’s response to it, revealing how creation can both protect and expose.