Moustapha Akkad, 1935 - 2005.

Hollywood Arab film director Moustapha Akkad has died in hospital from wounds sustained in this week's hotel bomb attacks in Jordan, Arab television stations said on Friday.

[...]

Akkad was executive producer of the Halloween horror films and directed a 1976 English-language movie about the Prophet Mohammad starring Anthony Quinn, The Message. In his controversial epic about early Islam, Akkad faced the challenge of shooting a movie where viewers neither see nor hear the main character because of Islam's ban on images of Mohammad.

Reuters.

And it works. Even more amazing is the fact that Akkad's project received the approval and blessing of Islamic officials!

[...]

The 3½ hour epic serves as the best celluloid introduction to Islam that you can find, and people from a Judeo-Christian background will likely be surprised to find numerous parallels to their own religion, including Moslem ideas about progressive revelation that establish Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Christ as previous prophets of God.

John Nesbit, 2001.

Posted by dwhudson at November 11, 2005 1:52 AM