Moustapha akkad biography sample

Syrian director

Moustapha al Akkad (Arabic: مصطفى العقاد, romanized:&#;Muṣṭafā al-ʿAqqād; July 1, &#; November 11, ) was a Syrian-Americanfilm producer and director, best known for producing the original series of Halloween films and directing The Message and Lion of the Desert.

He was killed along with his daughter Rima Al Akkad Monla in the Amman bombings.^[1][2] He is also the cousin to television personality star Tareq Salahi.

Early life

Al Akkad was born on July 1, , in Aleppo in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.^[3] He received his lofty school degree from the Aleppo American College.

His father, then a customs officer, gave him $ and a copy of the Quran before he left for the United States to study film direction and film at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Peckinpah became Akkad's mentor in Hollywood and hired him as a consultant for a film about the Algerian War that never made it to the big screen, but he continued to inspire him until he found a job as a producer at CBS. Akkad faced resistance from Hollywood, which forced him to make the film in Morocco. While creating Muhammad, Messenger of Godhe consulted Islamic clerics, he wanted and tried to be respectful towards Islam and its views on portraying Muhammad. The Governments of KuwaitLibya and Morocco promised to support the clip financially, and when it was rejected by the Muslim Society League, Kuwait kept its financial support but stopped other kinds of supports.

Akkad spent a further three years studying for a Master's degree at the University of Southern California (USC), where he met the director Sam Peckinpah. Peckinpah became Akkad's mentor in Hollywood and hired him as a consultant for a film about the Algerian War that never made it to the big screen, but he continued to encourage him until he found a employment as a producer at CBS.

Career

In , he produced and directed Mohammad, Messenger of God (released as The Message in in the United States), starring Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas. Akkad faced resistance from Hollywood, which forced him to form the film in Morocco.

While creating Muhammad, Messenger of God, he consulted Islamic clerics, he wanted and tried to be respectful towards Islam and its views on portraying Muhammad. He got the Approval from Al-Azhar University in Egypt but was rejected by the Muslim Earth League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

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The Governments of Kuwait, Libya and Morocco promised to support the film financially, and when it was rejected by the Muslim World League, Kuwait kept its financial support but stopped other kinds of supports. King Hassan II of Morocco gave his full support for the production of the production.

The production took one year, Akkad filmed for 6 months in Morocco, but had to stop when the Saudi Government exerted great pressure on the government of Morocco to terminate the production. Akkad went to Muammar Gaddafi of Libya for support in order to finish the project, Gaddafi allowed him to move the filming to Libya for the remaining 6 months until the film was finalized.

Akkad saw the movie as a way to bridge the gap between the Western and Muslim worlds, stating in a interview:^[4]

I did the motion picture because it is a personal thing for me Being a Muslim myself who lived in the west I felt that it was my obligation my duty to tell the correctness about Islam.

It is a religion that has a million following, yet it's so tiny known about which surprised me. I thought I should say the story that will take this [history] to the west.

In , he helped make low-budget film history when he produced Halloween.

Moustapha Akkad also Mustafa was one of the several Syrians to reach international stardom as a producer and director in Hollywood from the s until his death in a terrorist bombing in Amman, Jordan in He produced two classics; one on the early years of Islam under the Prophet Mohammad, and the other a Libyan-funded film about resistance chief, Omar al-Mukhtar, of the s and s. Both were also performed in Arabic. Akkad also produced the horror classic Halloween and its many sequels.

Akkad became best known for his key involvement in the first eight Halloween films, as an executive producer (the only producer to participate in all of these films). The series was highly profitable and hugely formative to subsequent horror films.

In he directed Lion of the Desert, in which Quinn and Irene Papas were joined by Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger, and John Gielgud.

It was about the real-life Bedouin leader Omar Mukhtar (Quinn), who fought Benito Mussolini's Italian troops in the deserts of Libya.

Moustapha Akkad. Producer: The Message. The creativity of Moustapha Akkad came in such movies as The Lion of the Desert () and The Message (), where he directed and showed some really creative amazing view on the history of Islam.

The production is now critically acclaimed, after initially receiving negative publicity in the West for being partially funded by Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who invested $35 million in the movie. This negative publicity may have been the produce of its relatively poor show at the box office.

Clint Morris describes the movie as: "A grand epic adventure that'll stand as a highpoint in the producing career of Moustapha Akkad."^[5] In , his show company Trancas International Films had inked an agreement with Galaxy International releasing in order to release films for a seven-picture agreement worldwide.^[6]

In the United Kingdom, Akkad once tried to offer Pinewood Studios from The Rank Organisation and also had a studio at Twickenham.

At the time of his death, he was in the process of producing an $80 million production featuring Sean Connery about Saladin and the Crusades, for which he already had the script, that would be filmed in Jordan. Speaking of the clip, he said:

Saladin exactly portrays Islam.

Right now, Islam is portrayed as a terrorist religion. Because a few terrorists are Muslims, the whole religion has that image.

Moustapha Akkad was a visionary Syrian-American film producer and director, best known for his work on the Halloween series and for his contributions to the international film industry.

If there ever was a religious war full of terror, it was the Crusades. But you can't blame Christianity because a few adventurers did this. That's my message.^[7]

Death

Akkad and his year-old daughter, Rima Akkad Monla, were killed in the Amman bombings.^[3] They were both in the lobby at the Grand Hyatt Amman on November 9 when a bomb exploded; his daughter died instantly, and Akkad died of his injuries two days later in a hospital.

He is buried in the Al-Jadidah Cemetery in Aleppo in Syria.^[8]

Akkad was survived by his former wife, Patricia Al Akkad and their sons, Taric and Malek, who helped produce most of the Halloween movies, as well as his widow, Suha Ascha Akkad, and their son Zade.

Legacy

He was honoured by his native city of Aleppo, and the Aleppo City Council has renamed a school and a street after Moustapha Akkad. In , a street in downtown Beirut was renamed after Moustapha Akkad.

The remake of Halloween was dedicated to Moustapha Akkad. The film Halloween, a direct sequel to the unique film, also features a dedication to Akkad in the terminate credits.

Filmography

References

External links