Queen Muhammad Ali
Queen Muhammad Ali (Queen Melé Le’iato Tuiasosopo Muhammad Ali) is an award winning film Director, Television Producer, and Visual Anthropologist. Queen’s Great Grandfather and later her Great uncle both served the people of American Samoa as Paramount Chiefs (Kings). In continuing the tradition of serving the Island, Ali is an advocate for revitalizing the knowledge of indigenous foods and ancient Samoan pharmacopeia to combat diabetes and obesity.
Ali’s film #Bars4Justice starring Common and Talib Kweli, screened twice at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Glasgow Scotland, Beijing China, and Tiapapata Art center in Apia, Samoa. Recognized internationally for her research on the negative images and stereotypes of original people, she has been requested to lend her expertise to universities and organizations across the globe.
Queen was also one of the organizers and a speaker at the highly publicized indigenous peoples march that occurred on January 18, 2019
in 2021 Queen completed direction and production on her first feature film “Comin’ Up Short” Executive Produced by Ice Cube. The sound re-recording was mixed at Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge, LA.
Awards
Honoree
2021 YBCA (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts) 100 list
Selected speaker
2020 United Nations UN75
Selected Artist
2018 Arizona Community Foundation
(The Karen Work Seleznow Gallery)
Winner
ArtPlace America’s 2017 NCPF
(Manuia Samoa)
Tutila, American Samoa
Winner
2017 & 2020 Artist Research and Development Grants recipient
(Co-Winner)
Phoenix, AZ
Winner
Resident Artist at Mutianyu Fellowship
(Film/Multimedia)
(Sep 2016)
Beijing, China
Winner
Tiapapata Art Centre
Artist in Resident (June 2017)
Apia, Western Samoa
Winner
Official Selection 24th Pan African Film Festival
(#Bars4Justice)
Los Angeles, CA
Selected guest speaker
MoMA’s 2017 Doc fortnight International film festival
New York, NY
Winner
ISF Film Grant / Scholarship Recipient
(Nov 2018 & 2021)
(Documentary)
San Francisco, CA
TEDx Speaker
Visual Anthropology Activism