Origins of Provocative Video Are Shrouded
Source: NY Times
CAIRO — The amateurish video at the center of the violence in Libya and in Egypt opens with scenes of Egyptian security forces standing idle as Muslims pillage and burn the homes of Egyptian Christians. Then it cuts to cartoonish scenes depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a child of uncertain parentage, a buffoon, a womanizer, a homosexual, a child molester and a greedy, bloodthirsty thug.
The trailer was uploaded to YouTube by an individual whose identity was in question. Some news organizations carried interviews with someone who said he was the filmmaker and identified himself as Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American real estate developer in California, but there was no immediate confirmation in official records of such a person. In one report, he identified himself as 52 and in another, 56.
Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said in a telephoned statement: “Nobody knows who he is. He is totally unknown in filmmaking circles in Israel. And anything he did — he is not doing it for Israel, or with Israel, or through Israel in any way.” Mr. Palmor also called the filmmaker “a complete loose cannon and an unspeakable idiot.”
It is unclear whether a full movie even exists. Executives at Hollywood agencies, including William Morris Endeavor, Creative Artists Agency and United Talent Agency, said they had never heard of “Innocence of Muslims,” either from a cast, crew or financing standpoint. Hollywood unions said they had no involvement or did not respond to queries. Casting directors did not recognize actors in the 14-minute YouTube video that purports to be a trailer for a longer film.
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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html
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