Lion of the Desert
عمر المختار: أسد الصحراء
Moustapha Akkad's film starring Anthony Quinn as the Libyan resistance leader Omar al-Mukhtar; banned in Italy for decades for its depiction of the fascist campaign.
Depth
At a glance
- Identifiers
- Wikidataimdb
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Screening Room
- Format
- Film · About Islam
- Released
- 1981 CE · 1401 AH†
- Countries
- US · LY
- Languages
- en (original) · ar (dubbed)
- Approach
- historical drama
- Depiction of sacred figures
- The Prophet: Not applicable · Companions: Not applicable · Imams: Not applicable
- Titles in other languages
- Lion of the Desertعمر المختارأسد الصحراء
Reception
- Ban (IT). Banned in Italy from release; the ban was effectively lifted for a 2009 television broadcast.Historical
Where to watch officially: No official link recorded. · Listed, not endorsed.
Check it against the record:Omar al-Mukhtar
The long-form text for this entry has not been written yet. The facts and connections below come from the museum's data.
Connections
- About
- Omar al-Mukhtar
- Set in
- Libya· The Colonial Era
- Features
- Anthony Quinn· Oliver Reed· Rod Steiger· Raf Vallone· Irene Papas· John Gielgud· Gastone Moschin· Stefano Patrizi
- Directed by
- Moustapha Akkad
- Written by
- H.A.L. Craig
People and things also explored
The Battle of Algiers· Payitaht: Abdülhamid· The Colonial Era· Mat Kilau· Free Men· Ceddo
Sources
- Wikidata
- IMDb
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Lion of the Desert”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/screen/umar-al-mukhtar-1981/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.