But the existence of the purported filmmaker, Sam Bacile, allegedly a 52-year-old Israeli-American real estate developer, has not been proven.
In interviews with the AP news agency and the Wall Street Journal, a man calling himself "Sam Bacile" said he had raised about $5m to produce the film. He also was quoted describing Islam as "a cancer", and claimed he had raised money from "about 100 Jewish donors" to make the video.
But the interview subject did not even give the same age during his two known press interviews, as he told the AP he was 56.
The man said the amateur, two-hour-long film had involved dozens of actors and was produced in California in 2011. But new reports suggest neither any prior social media presence by the director nor any IMDB page for the film.
The director of the California Film Commission - which issues permits for films that are shot in the state, told the Huffington Post that no permit was ever granted to someone by the name "Sam Bacile".
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."