Innocence of Muslims director arrested, could face three years in jail
By Scaachi Koul - Friday, September 28, 2012 - 0 Comments
The filmmaker behind Innocence of Muslims, the now-infamous film that sparked violence across the…
The filmmaker behind Innocence of Muslims, the now-infamous film that sparked violence across the Middle East, could face up to three years in jail after being arrested on Thursday.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was arrested for alleged probation violations. A 24-month term has been recommended but it could be up to three years if he’s found to have violated his parole.
Before his arrest, Nakoula and his family were in hiding. His attorney said he was being threatened.
At his hearing, the judge ordered Nakoula be detained, saying he had a “pattern of deception” and poses a danger to the community.
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Who is Sam Bacile?
By Scaachi Koul - Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 10:29 AM - 0 Comments
The director’s film, ‘Innocence of Muslims,’ incites violent protests—while the actors insist they were dubbed
A mere day after protests broke out in Yemen and Cairo over an American-produced Islamophobic film, the cast and crew of Innocence of Muslims are speaking out about their involvement in the movie, and the mystery around filmmaker Sam Bacile.
Bacile claims to be a 52-year-old Israeli-American real estate developer from California. He also claims his movie’s $5-million budget came from Jewish donors, but the film itself is poorly made, cheesy, and seems to be low-budget.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry says there’s no record of a Sam Bacile with Israeli citizenship.
Actors have also spoken out about the film as well: Cindy Lee Garcia has a role but says it was never supposed to be a religious movie. The script she was given was called Desert Warriors. Muhammed wasn’t even called Muhammed in the script: he was “Master George.” All the references to him, including any slurs against Islam, were dubbed over in post-production.
In early July, a nearly 14-minute trailer for the movie was posted on YouTube. The trailer is nothing short of insulting to Muslims and Islam.
Bacile says the full film has only been shown once, to a mostly empty theatre in Hollywood this year. It was dubbed into Egyptian Arabic by someone he says he doesn’t know, but does say that the translation is accurate. The film was made in the summer of 2011, with 59 actors and 49 people behind the scenes.
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U.S. embassy compound stormed by protesters in Yemen
By Scaachi Koul - Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 8:58 AM - 0 Comments
Hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Yemen, chanting “death to America”…
Hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Yemen, chanting “death to America” and burning the American flag. The protesters in Yemen were angered by an Islamophobic film, Innocence of Muslims, that also caused the protests in Cairo on Wednesday.
Protesters in Yemen breached the security around the embassy but didn’t enter the main building. Once in the compound, they brought down the American flag to replace it with a black banner that said, “There is no God but Allah.” They also removed the embassy’s sign on the outside wall, set tires on fire, and threw rocks at the building.
Yemen security forces fired in the air and used tear gas to get the crowd to disperse. They were eventually able to drive them away. It’s not clear if anyone was inside the building at the time of the protest.
