Moustapha Akkad was a Syrian American film producer and director, he was best known to western audiences for his production of the independent Halloween series. However, in the middle east, he was recognized as a director of films about Islam and Arab nationalism. Moustapha Akkad was born in Allepo Syria 1930, the eldest of seven children, he possessed an ambition for film direction and production. He left Syria, with nothing from his father but $200 and a copy of the Qur'an, and went on to study direction at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles). He continued to study for a masters degree at the University of Southern California. Despite the difficulties that an Arabic Muslim would face to make it in Hollywood, Akkad's talent was undeniable.
The first film Moustapha directed and produced was Muhammed, Messenger of God in 1976, which was retitled as The Message for US release. The story of this movie is in its title, the film follows Muhammad's time as a prophet beginning with Islam's rise in Mecca, their departure to Medina, and ending with the Muslim's victorious return to Mecca. However, the prophet Muhammed's image was not depicted on screen, nor was his voice heard. Therefore, his presence in a scene was indicated by light organ music, and his words were repeated by one of the characters in the scene.
Moustapha wanted to create an understanding between Islam and the West, " Being Muslim myself who lived in the west I felt that it was my obligation my duty to tell the truth about Islam . . . I thought I should tell the story that will bring this bridge, this gap to the West " said Moustapha Akkad in a 1976 interview. Moreover, Hollywood gave Akkad a hard time for making a film about the origins of Islam, so he had to leave the United states to raise money for production purposes. The film was filmed in Libya and Morocco.
In 1978, Akkad proceeded to his second act, and this film was completely different from his first one. Halloween was an independent horror film that was directed by John Carpenter, but was financed and distributed by Akkad. It was one of the most successful independent films ever made, and it's effects have influenced many horror films such as Friday the 13th, Nightmare on elm street series, and Hell raiser. The movie went on to generate seven sequels, and Akkad, known as the Halloween grandfather, was responsible for preserving its continuity. Although this was not the image Akkad wanted to be remembered by, he accepted it since many people followed the films. Additionally, because it was difficult to raise money to make historical Islamic films, Halloween was a perfect way to raise that money as it had a large target audience.
After the success of Halloween, Akkad directed a Libyan historical action film called Lion of the Desert in 1981. This film shows the battle between Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar and the Italian army leading up to World War II. Having said that, this movie was censored in Italy as it was considered to degrade the honor of the Italian army.
Akkad continued to collaborate with John Carpenter over the next years with the making of Halloween sequels, and he also produced and distributed other horror films such as Hell Night, Roller boogie, and Blood leach with John Saxon and Burt Young. Unfortunately, Akkad was killed in a terrorist attack in 2005 in Amman, Jordan, before finishing what was going to be his next religious-themed epic Saladin and the Crusades. He was also looking to produce the final sequel to Halloween, Halloween Resurrection.
Isn't it ironic that a man who tried to preserve the image of islam and remove stereotypes gets killed by none other than Islamic suicide bombers?
References:
- http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/moustapha_akkad.htm
- http://www.halloweenmovies.com/latestnews/2010/11/moustapha-akkad-tribute-3/
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1502762/Moustapha-Akkad.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/obituaries/12akkad.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moustapha_Akkad
THis is honestly interesting, because you don't see or hear much about Syrians in the media. THis man is also impressive, as he brought his talent and culture in most of his hit films.
ReplyDeleteTalar Kazanji