MELTING POT

Moammar Kadafi, King Hussein and Saddam Hussein all want director Moustapha Akkad to help them change their images. Akkad, a member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, has battled anti-Arab stereotypes all his life. “I saw how the Arabs are misunderstood, especially the Muslim religion,” says Akkad, 56. His first major film, “The Message” (1977), depicted the life of the prophet Mohammad. Akkad shot two versions--one using an English-speaking cast, the other, Arab actors. Four years later, he made “Lion of the Desert,” the story of a Libyan revolt against the occupying Italian army. “It was the first time American audiences applauded for an Arab,” Akkad says. “Before, Arabs were always spies, smugglers, sheiks. . . .”

Part of the problem is the lack of Arab moviemakers. When Akkad was growing up in Aleppo, Syria, stage and screen were not the usual interests of teen-age boys. But Akkad virtually lived in the projection room of the local theater. “I had a hard time,” he says. “Nobody approved of my going into theater. But I was so persistent that in the end my father said, ‘If that’s your wish, do it.’ ” Akkad arrived in Westwood in 1954. Now, fans mob him when he visits the Middle East, and heads of state ask him to do films about their countries and heroes. Akkad has declined. “I want to tell stories that will serve the whole Arab world,” he says.