Sacha Baron Cohen Resurrects Ali G for ‘Who Iz I?,’ His Secret Directorial Debut Landing in October
The comedian unveiled the covertly filmed movie fully in character, reviving the fictional Londoner he first introduced back in 1998.
Summary
Sacha Baron Cohen has revealed a secret Ali G movie titled 'Ali G: Who Iz I?' through Amazon MGM Studios
The film marks Cohen's feature directorial debut and reaches theaters on October 23
Cohen shot the project covertly, mirroring the guerrilla approach behind his 'Borat' films
Sacha Baron Cohen has officially unveiled Ali G: Who Iz I?, a secret movie built around his fictional Londoner that arrives in theaters on October 23 through Amazon MGM Studios. The project doubles as a milestone for the comedian, marking his feature directorial debut after decades of playing provocateurs in front of the camera rather than behind it.
True to form, Cohen broke the news without breaking character. He posted a video to Instagram fully as Ali G, framing the film as a long-overdue documentary about himself and leaning into the exaggerated London rude boy slang that made the character a phenomenon. The reveal fits a familiar Cohen playbook, since he filmed the movie in secret, the same guerrilla method he used for Borat in 2006 and its 2020 sequel. Working undercover, Cohen tends to interview real people who have no idea they are talking to a character, a setup that has historically produced both comedy and genuine discomfort.
The return carries real history behind it. Cohen originated Ali G for Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show in 1998, then gave the character his own platform with Da Ali G Show in the early 2000s. He carried the fictional Londoner to the big screen once before in the 2002 film Ali G Indahouse, directed by Mark Mylod, cementing the character as a fixture of late-’90s and early-2000s British comedy well before Borat entered the picture. Across those years, Ali G built his reputation by ambushing high-profile figures, sitting down with the likes of Noam Chomsky, Andy Rooney and Newt Gingrich, all of whom were left bewildered by the fake interviewer across the table.
Ali G: Who Iz I? arrives in theaters on October 23 via Amazon MGM Studios.
