Rainer Werner Fassbinder cast his then-partner El Hedi Ben Salem in the main role of his drama ALI - FEAR EATS SOUL. Though often considered anti-racist, Viola Shafik's documentary MY NAME IS NOT ALI argues the case that Fassbinder and his troupe othered and exotised Salem in the film and in the treatment of the actor after the relationship with Fassbinder ended. Creating a collage of interviews and archive footage, the film shows that El Hedi Ben Salem was as much an artificial creation by Europeans as the part he played.