4K Restoration of Moustapha Akkad’s ‘Lion of the Desert,’ Starring Oliver Reed and Anthony Quinn, Bows at Cairo Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)

A 4K restoration of the 1981 film "Lion of the Desert" is to premiere at the Cairo Film Festival this week. Telling the story of Benito Mussolini's attempt to defeat the Libyan rebellion against fascist Italian rule, the film stars Oliver Reed and Anthony Quinn and was produced and directed by Syrian-American filmmaker Moustapha Akkad. The trailer for the film is below.

The restoration was carried out by Trancas International Films at Deluxe in London and Private Island Sound in Hollywood, bringing to life the grandeur of the desertscapes and the epic battle scenes, as well as Maurice Jarre's score. Malek Akkad, Moustapha Akkad's son, spoke to Variety about the restoration: "It was a labor of love for me. The process involved three of my father's films – 'The Message,' 'Ar-Risalah' and 'Lion of the Desert' – and each of these films is over three hours in length. It was a very long process that ultimately took over three years to fully complete. We had to scan every frame, and correct for any scratches or issues, then enhance the color grading, and finally, a remixing of the sound. It was a lot of work but the final result made it all worth it."

For Gianluca Chakra, the CEO of Front Row Filmed Entertainment, the significance of the restoration has a broad cultural significance: "Restoring films like 'Lion of the Desert' is about preserving a part of our global cultural heritage. These films tell timeless stories about human resilience and the fight for justice. By giving them new life through restoration, we make sure that they continue to inspire future generations and remind them of the historical events that have shaped our world."

In the film, Reed stars as General Graziani, tasked by Mussolini, played Rod Steiger, with crushing the Berber and Libyan Arab rebellion, which stood in the way of the Italian dictator's plan to establish the so-called Fourth Shore, the settlement set to inspire the rebirth of a new Roman Empire. Quinn plays the lead rebel, Omar al-Mukhtar, who leads the local forces against the Italians, with John Gielgud also starring. On its release the film was hailed as "spectacular" by Vincent Canby of the New York Times, though in Italy it was banned in 1982, as then Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti claimed it denigrated the Italian armed forces. It wouldn't be shown on television in Italy until 2009, during a historic state visit of Muammar Gaddafi to Italy. Gaddafi's government had financed the film in 1981.

Having first produced and directed "The Message" in 1976, Moustapha Akkad would achieve great success producing John Carpenter's "Halloween" in 1978 and several subsequent films in the franchise. He was planning the production of a film about Saladin and the Crusades, starring Sean Connery, at the time of his death in 2005.