Vishwarupa
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Middle East is burning because of this film - Yahoo! News India
A crudely made, controversial movie mocking Prophet Muhammed and hurting the sentiments of millions of Muslims worldwide has sparked off violent protests that led to the killing of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi by Libyan rebels and the storming of the US embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa by hundreds of irate demonstrators.
So what is the film about?
The controversial, low-budget film shows Prophet Muhammed in poor light, casting aspersions on his societal and personal behaviour. Such a representation of the Prophet is considered blasphemous by devout Muslims and this was the primary reason that sparked off the violent protests in West Asia against the film.
Clips of the movie, posted on YouTube under several titles, including 'Innocence of Muslims', portrayed Prophet Mohammed engaged in crude behavior, enraging people.
How was this low-budget film made?
Several media houses in the United States reported that the film was produced by Sam Bacile, a man who identified himself as an Israeli-American property developer.
He told news organisations that the film cost $5 million to make, which was paid by around 100 Jewish donors, according to a Reuters report.
He added that he had worked with 60 actors and 45 crew members to make the film in a three-month period last year in California.
"My plan is to make a series spanning 200 hours on the same subject," he told a US-based news agency.
Cindy Lee Garcia of Bakersfield, California, who appears briefly in clips of the film posted online, said she answered a casting call last year to appear in a movie, titled "Desert Warrior."
"It looks so unreal to me, it's like nothing that we even filmed was there. There was all this weird stuff there," Garcia told Reuters in a phone interview.
Garcia said the film was shot in the summer of 2011 inside a church near Los Angeles, with actors standing in front of a "green screen," used to depict background images. About 50 actors were involved, she said.
An expired casting notice at Backstage.com listed a film named 'Desert Warrior' that it described as a low-budget 'historical Arabian Desert adventure film'. None of the characters were identified in the casting call as Mohammed.
"They told me it was based on what it was like 2,000 years ago at the time of the Lord," Garcia said. "Like the time Christ was here."
The Backstage.com casting call listed a man of a similar name, Sam Bassiel, as the producer, while the director was named as Alan Roberts.
Steven Klein, a southern California man in the insurance business who described himself as a consultant and a spokesman for the project - but not the filmaker - said he believed the name was a pseudonym.
"I've met him twice, I don't know what country he's from. I do know he's not an Israeli Jew and I can only guess he threw that out to protect his family, which I do know is back in the Middle East," Klein told Reuters in an interview in front of his home in Hemet, California, as he sipped a beer.
The largely obscure English-language film's low production values were evident in its stilted dialogue and wooden acting. Klein said there was an attempt to screen the full movie at a theater in southern California under a slightly different title, but after 30 minutes into the film no tickets had been sold.
How did the film become controversial?
A 14-minute clip had been posted online for weeks before apparently triggering violent demonstrations at the US embassy in Cairo and consulate in Benghazi, Libya and Yemen.
The New York Times reported that the film attracted attention only when a clip from the film dubbed in Arabic was posted online.
The film became a rage when a some Egyptian news channel began airing the clip saying that it was an American ploy to denigrade the prophet.
Morris Sadek, a Coptic Christian, known for his anti-Islamic views, promoted the film on his website and told the Wall Street Journal that "the violence that it [the film] caused in Egypt is further evidence of how violent the religion and people are".
US pastor Terry Jones, whose plans to burn the Koran triggered deadly riots in Afghanistan in 2010, said he had promoted the film. (Agencies & Reuters)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/film-muslim-prophet-sparks-protests-180747162.html
India should not ban this movie, if it is really secular
A crudely made, controversial movie mocking Prophet Muhammed and hurting the sentiments of millions of Muslims worldwide has sparked off violent protests that led to the killing of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi by Libyan rebels and the storming of the US embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa by hundreds of irate demonstrators.
So what is the film about?
The controversial, low-budget film shows Prophet Muhammed in poor light, casting aspersions on his societal and personal behaviour. Such a representation of the Prophet is considered blasphemous by devout Muslims and this was the primary reason that sparked off the violent protests in West Asia against the film.
Clips of the movie, posted on YouTube under several titles, including 'Innocence of Muslims', portrayed Prophet Mohammed engaged in crude behavior, enraging people.
How was this low-budget film made?
Several media houses in the United States reported that the film was produced by Sam Bacile, a man who identified himself as an Israeli-American property developer.
He told news organisations that the film cost $5 million to make, which was paid by around 100 Jewish donors, according to a Reuters report.
He added that he had worked with 60 actors and 45 crew members to make the film in a three-month period last year in California.
"My plan is to make a series spanning 200 hours on the same subject," he told a US-based news agency.
Cindy Lee Garcia of Bakersfield, California, who appears briefly in clips of the film posted online, said she answered a casting call last year to appear in a movie, titled "Desert Warrior."
"It looks so unreal to me, it's like nothing that we even filmed was there. There was all this weird stuff there," Garcia told Reuters in a phone interview.
Garcia said the film was shot in the summer of 2011 inside a church near Los Angeles, with actors standing in front of a "green screen," used to depict background images. About 50 actors were involved, she said.
An expired casting notice at Backstage.com listed a film named 'Desert Warrior' that it described as a low-budget 'historical Arabian Desert adventure film'. None of the characters were identified in the casting call as Mohammed.
"They told me it was based on what it was like 2,000 years ago at the time of the Lord," Garcia said. "Like the time Christ was here."
The Backstage.com casting call listed a man of a similar name, Sam Bassiel, as the producer, while the director was named as Alan Roberts.
Steven Klein, a southern California man in the insurance business who described himself as a consultant and a spokesman for the project - but not the filmaker - said he believed the name was a pseudonym.
"I've met him twice, I don't know what country he's from. I do know he's not an Israeli Jew and I can only guess he threw that out to protect his family, which I do know is back in the Middle East," Klein told Reuters in an interview in front of his home in Hemet, California, as he sipped a beer.
The largely obscure English-language film's low production values were evident in its stilted dialogue and wooden acting. Klein said there was an attempt to screen the full movie at a theater in southern California under a slightly different title, but after 30 minutes into the film no tickets had been sold.
How did the film become controversial?
A 14-minute clip had been posted online for weeks before apparently triggering violent demonstrations at the US embassy in Cairo and consulate in Benghazi, Libya and Yemen.
The New York Times reported that the film attracted attention only when a clip from the film dubbed in Arabic was posted online.
The film became a rage when a some Egyptian news channel began airing the clip saying that it was an American ploy to denigrade the prophet.
Morris Sadek, a Coptic Christian, known for his anti-Islamic views, promoted the film on his website and told the Wall Street Journal that "the violence that it [the film] caused in Egypt is further evidence of how violent the religion and people are".
US pastor Terry Jones, whose plans to burn the Koran triggered deadly riots in Afghanistan in 2010, said he had promoted the film. (Agencies & Reuters)
http://in.news.yahoo.com/film-muslim-prophet-sparks-protests-180747162.html
India should not ban this movie, if it is really secular
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