Only a hand full of people in the world can say they spent 23 years involved in the telling of Muhammad Ali's life story, and American director Bill Siegel is one. To Siegel, Ali is not only a world renown international athlete and hero, but a mirror into which any person can see a piece of themselves. In his latest film about Ali, 'The Trials of Muhammad Ali' (2013), Bill tells a three part story of the man who went from Olympic winning athlete to spiritual leader for the Nation of Islam to a Civil Rights activist and ambassador for peace. The film is a lyrical homage to one of history's greatest personalities depicting archival footage from all stages of Ali's professional life featuring interviews from his brother, Rahman, his bride Khalilah Camacho-Ali, New York Times writer Robert Lipsyte and Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan. In his fight to preserve history, Bill Siegel's beautifully documented film provides a crucial account of one of American history's most exemplary and beloved figures, Muhammad Ali.

I recently interviewed Bill during the 16th annual Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Here is what he had to say:

ME: What made you feel so close to Muhammad Ali that you felt this was a film you had to make?

BILL: Muhammad Ali is like a superhero but athletic. He is immortal, yet he is one guy. I really appreciate his ability and his on the ground way of being who he is.

ME: When was the first time you met him?

BILL: 1990

ME: This isn't the first film you have made about him. You have a 23 year history spent on the telling of Ali's story.

BILL: I worked on a six hour series called: 'Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story' in 1990. That's the 23 year old part. That was my first job in documentary film. I was a researcher and my job was to immerse myself in his whole life. So, I did that and it stayed with me. Then I went on to make another film, 'The Weather Underground', and that was when I knew I had to come back to another Ali film. I wanted to make a film about him in three acts. Act 1: Cassius Clay, Louisville, Kentucky, Olympic gold medalist, hero finds the Nation of Islam and becomes Muhammad Ali; Act 2: Muhammad Ali gets drafted to fight in Vietnam and refuses to go, gets sentenced to five years in prison, has his passport taken away, can't fight within the USA and can't leave the USA, that's the exile years; Act 3: Ali appeals his case all the way to the Supreme Court and wins. So, it was very clean in my mind. I knew what the story was that I wanted to tell. 1,2,3 you're out. But then it got complicated because I started to work with other people who got the Ali fever, as I call it, because once you immerse yourself in that man's life you begin to see yourself. He is the United States Civil Rights Movement. He is like A-Z. He is such a prism through which to find ourselves. That's really why ultimately I wanted to make the film, to understand more about myself.

ME: Has Ali seen the film?

BILL: Not the final version. He saw a fine cut and he loved it. I could tell because he loves watching stuff about Muhammad Ali. So, it's not hard to do.

ME: What was the biggest challenge about filming this movie?

BILL: Overcoming myself and just getting it done.

ME: Because you had to make huge sacrifices to get this movie made.

BILL: Yeah, I did.

ME: You said that you want to be a warrior against the ability for history to disappear and that is something you hold close. Can you talk about your passion for history?

BILL: I really believe in history. I believe in the role that the past plays upon the present which forms the future. It sounds so simple every time I say it but I do trust in that. I try and teach my children that too. Without history, you cannot understand who you are. That's what I believe anyway.

ME: Now that you have spent 23 years of your life on Muhammad Ali, what's next for you?

BILL: I want to do a film called: 'America Sells Itself'. I have access to incredible archival footage about American propaganda films. The first piece of American propaganda is the Declaration of Independence. So, I want make a film about the world and the role America has played in it. I feel that if we are going to survive in humanity then we cannot go on like we are going on. We just can't. It's a very humanitarian story. I don't want a revolution in particular. I just want a reckoning. I want people to understand the damage that the United States has done in the world. It's terrible, really. And within the USA people think it's still red, white and blue and beautiful and it's not. It's not.

ME: So, 'America Sells Itself' is your next film. Can we expect that to be something you start on soon?

BILL: It will probably take me six years.

ME: What has your experience been like here in Thessaloniki?

BILL: Really great. Awesome. I just love it and I cannot wait to come back.

View the trailer here:

Interview by Vanessa McMahon