This is a political movie," said [Sam] Bacile. "The U.S. lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we're fighting with ideas." Bacile,
a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli
Jew [but who is not – please see below], said he believes the movie will help his native land by exposing
Islam's flaws to the world. "Islam is a cancer, period," he said repeatedly, his solemn voice thickly accented.
The AP spoke with the Israeli-American real estate developer/'filmmaker' who made the film Innocence of Muslims, a low budget D movie (calling it a B movie denigrates all the drive in movies and triple feature specials many of our older readers watched in their youth) that had no play anywhere and which has been shown in a theater exactly one time – and that showing was apparently paid for by the film's producers.
The film spaked riots in Egypt and Libya, killing the US Ambassador to Libya and three other US staffers.
From the AP's talk with Sam Bacile and a "consultant" on the film, Steve Klein, it is clear Bacile knew the film would spark violence – but he didn't care:
…Speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, writer and director Sam Bacile remained defiant, saying Islam is a cancer and that the 56-year-old intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.…
"This is a political movie," said Bacile. "The U.S. lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we're fighting with ideas."
Bacile, a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, said he believes the movie will help his native land by exposing Islam's flaws to the world.
"Islam is a cancer, period," he said repeatedly, his solemn voice thickly accented.
The two-hour movie, "Innocence of Muslims," cost $5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors, said Bacile, who wrote and directed it.
The film claims Muhammad was a fraud. An English-language 13-minute trailer on YouTube shows an amateur cast performing a wooden dialogue of insults disguised as revelations about Muhammad, whose obedient followers are presented as a cadre of goons.
It depicts Muhammad as a feckless philanderer who approved of child sexual abuse, among other overtly insulting claims that have caused outrage.…
Though Bacile was apologetic about the American who was killed as a result of the outrage over his film, he blamed lax embassy security and the perpetrators of the violence.
"I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," said Bacile. "America should do something to change it."
A consultant on the film, Steve Klein, said the filmmaker is concerned for family members who live in Egypt. Bacile declined to confirm.
Klein said he vowed to help Bacile make the movie but warned him that "you're going to be the next Theo van Gogh." Van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker killed by a Muslim extremist in 2004 after making a film that was perceived as insulting to Islam.
"We went into this knowing this was probably going to happen," Klein said.…
Nothing would have happened, however, except that Terry Jones, the Koran-burning pastor from Florida, began to promote the film.
Whether Bacile, who is allegedly in hiding, contacted Jones and encouraged him to promote the film, or if Jones found it on his own, is not clear.
Nothing justifies the riots or the murders of the US Ambassador and his three members of hus staff, and we all need to stand up for honest, good, fair attempts to report or depict the truth of any issue.
But there is a difference between that and propaganda, and this film is very bad propaganda that is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda films made against Jews and others
Update 1:46 am CDT 9-13-2012 – Bacile isn't Jewish, he's a Coptic Christian and a convicted felon, as the AP is now reporting.