Civic Studios presents the biopic of boxer Ramla Ali with their latest international movie ‘IN THE SHADOWS’. Filming begins in London this week.
~BAFTA-winning actor Jasmine Jobson stars as the first Somali-British professional boxing champion~
- ‘In the Shadows’ is produced by BAFTA award-winning and Oscar-nominated producer, Lee Magiday (The Favourite, The Lobster), Madeleine Sanderson (Being AP, Fighting for a City), and presented by Civic Studios (Christmas Karma, Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust). Ramla Ali will serve as an Executive Producer.
- Emmy Award and three-time BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker Anthony Wonke (Dettori, Syria: Children on the Frontline, Ronaldo) will make his narrative fiction film debut.
- Jasmine Jobson (Andrea Arnold’s upcoming Bird, Top Boy) is set to play Ramla Ali alongside Finn Cole (Last Breath, Peaky Blinders, Fast & Furious 9) as her husband, Richard Moore.
- The film is co-financed by Civic Studios, Affine Films, and The World We Want Studios.
- True Brit Entertainment boards the film in the UK, Altitude is handling International Sales.
INDIA, August 6th 2024 – Filming has begun in London on ‘In the Shadows’, the incredible true story of refugee Ramla Ali who, without her parents’ knowledge, secretly pursued boxing to become the first Somali-British professional boxing champion.
BAFTA-winning actor Jasmine Jobson, best known for her role as Jaq in Netflix’s Top Boy and upcoming in Andrea Arnold’s Bird starring Barry Keoghan, is set to portray the trailblazing Somali-British professional boxer, model, and UNICEF Ambassador. Finn Cole (Last Breath, Peaky Blinders, Fast & Furious 9) will star alongside Jobson as her husband, Richard Moore, while Gershwyn Eustache Jr (Andor, Small Axe, Fortitude) plays her boxing coach. Ramla Ali and Richard Moore will serve as executive producers.
‘In the Shadows’ is directed by Emmy Award and three-time BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker Anthony Wonke (Dettori, Syria: Children on the Frontline, Ronaldo) who will make his narrative fiction film debut.
The film is presented by Civic Studios, a global media company that creates entertainment with social impact. Anushka Shah, CEO of Civic Studios commented: ‘Ramla’s story is truly inspiring and deserves to be heard by audiences around the world. It’s a story of perseverance in the face of adversity, the immigrant experience, and most importantly, of a champion boxer.’
Ramla Ali said: “My aim is to become an ambassador and role model for women’s boxing. To inspire other young girls who suffer from bullying and body weight issues. To land the message that through boxing, you are not just physically rewarded but mentally reborn. Boxing was a way for me to step out of the shadows; to express myself and to inspire others, especially women, to create the confidence we all need to live a happy and healthy life.”
Anthony Wonke said: “There is no doubt Jasmine Jobson is one of Britain’s finest and most exciting actors out there today and brings an incredible intelligence and emotionally raw honesty to her roles. Ramla’s story is one of perseverance and bravery against the odds and we couldn’t be more delighted to have an actor that so connects and empathises with Ramla’s story in such a profound way.”
The film is executive produced by Zygi Kamasa for True Brit Entertainment, Will Clarke, Andy Mayson and Mike Runagall for Altitude, Anushka Shah for Civic Studios, Richard Fearn and Jane Reid Fearn at Affine Films, Natasha Mudhar for The World We Want Studios, Anne Sheehan, Ramla Ali and Richard Moore.
The screenplay is written by playwright and screenwriter Ursula Rani Sarma (Bodkin, Delicious). Award-winning Christopher Aoun (Capernaum) is the cinematographer and Kharmel Cochrane (A Quiet Place: Day One, Saltburn, Rye Lane) is casting the film.
True Brit Entertainment, the leading distributor of independent British feature films, will release the film in 2025 in cinemas across the UK and Ireland, with Altitude handling International Sales.
‘In the Shadows’ transcends the typical sports drama, exploring deep social issues and themes of identity, belonging, family, love, and faith. This poignant coming-of-age film traces Ramla’s extraordinary journey within a strict Muslim family in London’s multicultural East End, capturing her pursuit of self-discovery and empowerment. This helped her “step out of the shadows” to claim her identity and voice amidst her own religious and cultural frameworks. The film also illuminates the collective challenges faced by Somali British Muslim women and similar diaspora and refugee communities globally, demonstrating the power of perseverance against cultural and societal odds.
Ramla Ali’s unyielding determination and relentless drive to succeed against all odds enabled her to overcome significant challenges in and out of the boxing ring, breaking through gender barriers and shattering cultural stereotypes. Her tenacity led her to historic achievements, including being the first boxer, male or female, to represent Somalia at the 2020 Olympic Games and winning the first-ever professional female boxing match in Saudi Arabia. In 2023, Ali clinched her first professional IBF intercontinental title at Superbantam weight at Madison Square Gardens and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 2023 Women of the Year.
ABOUT CIVIC STUDIOS
Civic Studios is a global media company with a vision of creating entertainment that drives social impact. Incubated at the MIT Media Lab, USA, it creates authentic stories of change, hope and pride, across formats of feature film, OTT series and short-form digital content. Civic Studios develops, produces, co-produces, and finances for an Indian and international market, with a distribution reach across theaters, film festivals and streaming platforms.
Civic Studios is a women-led production house with a 70% female team, aimed at telling stories that entertain, engage and empower. Civic Studios currently operates out of offices in Mumbai & London.
The studio projects for 2024 include ‘Christmas Karma’ (Christmas musical directed by Gurinder Chadha,), ‘Family Aaj Kal’ (comedy drama web-series starring Apoorva Arora streaming on SonyLiv; ranked in top 10 Indian streaming shows in release week), ‘Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust’ (Indo-French-German animation feature film; world premiere at International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2024; NETPAC award winner for Best Asian Film, guest voice cast such as Karan Johar, Shekhar Kapur, Anurag Kashyap), Untitled Feature Film (Arabic-English feature film by writer-director Fateme Ahmadi, produced by Shudder Films, developed with BFI and BBC Film), ‘Little Thomas’ (feature film starring Rasika Dugal and Gulshan Devaiah, world premiere at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2024), along with over 15 projects going on the floor this year/in development with talents such as Pan Nalin (Last Film Show – official Indian entry to the Oscars 2023, Samsaara, Angry Indian Goddesses) and Hitesh Kewalya (Shubh Mangal Saavdhan franchise). Past projects include ‘Vakeel Babu’ starring Abhishek Banerjee (streaming on AmazonMini TV) and ‘Ye Saali Naukri’ (streaming on MXPlayer).
The studio also runs a successful pop culture and impact brand on Instagram with a community of over 116,000 followers. In addition to creating content, Civic Studios creates collaborations towards media & impact with support from grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies. It partnered in 2023 with Pocket Aces, as well as with the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 and the London International Film Festival 2024 towards creation of social impact film awards.
The aim of Civic Studios is to create a global community of creators who want to tell stories that entertain, engage, and empower.
