Ramla Ali premiered the film In the Shadows at the London film festival. Jasmine Jobson stars in the production, which was directed by Anthony Wonke.
Ali, who was born in Somalia, became the first boxer to represent her home country at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Her family fled Somalia by boat to Kenya before arriving in the UK as refugees.
Ali grew up in east London and began training at a local gym after facing bullying regarding her weight. She kept her serious boxing training secret from her family due to her identity as a Muslim girl.
In 2015, Ali became the first Muslim woman to win an English amateur boxing title. The film depicts the death of Ali's older brother, Abdulkadir, who was killed in an explosion while playing.
Ali's mother insisted that the scene depicting her brother's death be included in the movie. Ali served as a body double for the boxing sequences in the film.
Jobson took over the lead role from Letitia Wright and spent two weeks preparing for the part. Jobson, who was initially attached to the project before Wright, trained for eight hours a day for the role.
The actress learned lines in Somali and worked to secure the title of executive producer on the project. Jobson moved out of her mother's house to live with her grandmother during secondary school and entered foster care at age 14.
Ali's husband, Richard Moore, acted as her coach and serves as an executive producer on the film. The couple was down to 100 quid in 2018 while living in a home owned by Idris Elba and Sabrina Elba.
Ali established the Sisters Club in 2018 and currently serves as a Unicef ambassador. She also appeared on the cover of British Vogue, which was guest edited by the Duchess of Sussex.
Ali and Moore also wrote and directed a comedy film together called Not Like Us.
"If my brother hadn’t died, we wouldn’t have come to the UK. I wouldn’t have taken up boxing. I wouldn’t have met Richard. My life would be so different."
Ramla Ali
