THE LONG WALK
The final work was exhibited on large screens around the world including in the UN Building, Brussels; Grand Central Station, New York; Union Station, Washington, DC; Victoria City Centre, Australia; the Eden Project, Cornwall; and Glastonbury Festival, where it was shown for five consecutive years.
Its final screening took place in 2012 at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York, as part of an evening of witness organised by the Magnum Foundation and accompanied by a live orchestra.
Unfolding over seven and a half hours, The Long Walk follows local women as they walk to collect water in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains.
Filmed continuously, Ali immersed herself to reveal the extraordinary endurance required to survive amid civil war, landmines, and the threat of personal violence.
The completed film retained its duration and was first presented publicly on a 30-foot LED screen in Trafalgar Square 2006 accompanied by public addresses from Hilary Benn MP, then Secretary of State for International Development; London Mayor Ken Livingstone; and WaterAid CEO Dame Barbara Frost.
TO BEGIN
To Begin is a 30-minute film shaped by conversation and the continuous rhythm of walking. The work seeks to capture the physical and emotional weight of essential labour, led by voices that honour women’s resilience.
Filmed in a small village in Konso, the film emerges from a community rebuilding after severe floods that destroyed crops and contaminated water sources, triggering a cholera outbreak. Following The Long Walk—where I was not permitted to record sound—To Begin became an essential next step: a way to give voice to the women I had walked alongside.
The film was exhibited on large public LED screens across five UK cities—London, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, and Manchester—bringing these stories into shared civic spaces. It was later donated to WaterAid for ongoing use at events around the world.
TRANSMISSION
Inspired by the work of Len Lye and Stan Brakhage, Ali created a series of films on 16mm, incorporating experimental typography, hand-drawn imagery, and natural materials applied directly onto the film surface.
These abstract animations were projected onto the large electric window of Lux Gallery in Hoxton Square, where they were visible both inward to a busy exhibition space and outward into the city at night (2000), blurring the boundary between interior and public realm.
