Meet controversial film-maker — Sam Bacile

The man who produced the film which is said to have led to the deadly protests in Libya has reportedly gone into hiding but is unrepentant, calling Islam "a cancer" and promising to release further films about the religion.

Sam Bacile has been named as the writer, director and producer of the two-hour film The Innocence of Muslims, which supposedly provoked the violence and led to the death of Chris Stevens, the US Ambassador in Benghazi.

Bacile, who described himself as an Israeli Jew, reportedly lives in California, where he works in real estate.

He is either 52 or 56, according to various reports, although there is no record of him being listed at an address in the US or of him having produced any other films.

Last night, the mystery over his identity deepened further when a consultant on the film rejected Bacile's description of himself.

Steve Klein told Atlantic magazine that Bacile was not Jewish or Israeli and that the name Sam Bacile was a pseudonym.

Klein, who also has anti-Islam views, said that Bacile contacted him about the film.

He added: "I don't know that much about him. I met him, I spoke to him for an hour.

"He's not Israeli. I can tell you this for sure, the State of Israel is not involved."

As news of the Libyan crisis unfolded, the Associated Press reported that he had gone into hiding but remained unrepentant for releasing his film. He told the agency: "Islam is a cancer, period."

He claimed the film cost £3.3 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors. He added that he had worked with 60 actors and 45 crew to make the film over three months last year in California. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie," he said.

A 14-minute excerpt of the film was posted on YouTube in July. In it, the Prophet Mohammed is depicted as a violent womaniser.

Islam forbids the depiction of Mohammed in any form and showing his image is considered a huge insult.

The 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper triggered riots in many Muslim countries.

Bacile said that he intended to make further films.

"My plan is to make a series about the same subject," he said.

The news agency reported that he was sorry for the American deaths, but he blamed lax embassy security and the perpetrators of the violence.

The film has been promoted by Terry Jones, the controversial Florida pastor who provoked protests for burning the Koran and vehemently opposing the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.