Director Christopher Nolan has been accused of “enabling colonialism” by filming in a contested part of Africa.
The British-American visionary is currently shooting his upcoming blockbuster “The Odyssey” in Dakhla, a disputed territory in Western Sahara.
Matt Damon will play the title character in Nolan’s recreation of the ancient Greek epic, with Oscar-winners Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o also starring.
Filming has already taken place in Greece and Scotland, and is now underway in Morocco.
Moroccan locations for the film have included Essaouira, Marrakesh and Ouarzazate, and this month, the set has been in Dakhla.
But the decision to film in the disputed territory has sparked fury from activists.
The Polisario Front, which claims to represent the area’s indigenous people has accused Nolan of “a clear violation of international law and ethical standards governing cultural and artistic work.”
The group abandoned a ceasefire with Morocco, which has claimed and occupied Western Sahara since Spain gave up control of the territory in the 1970s, in 2020.
Last month, Britain acknowledged this claim, after decades of refusing to back either side of the dispute.
The US, France, Spain and Portugal also back Morocco over its occupation of the largely desert territory, while the UN classifies Western Sahara as a “non-self-governing territory”.
Organisers of the Sahara International Film Festival, which is based in Polisario-run camps in Algeria, warned the decision to film in this location could “normalise decades of repression”.
The area “is not just a beautiful location with cinematic sand dunes”, they told The Times as they urged Nolan to stop filming.
“Primarily, it is an occupied, militarised city whose indigenous Sahrawi population is subject to brutal repression by occupying Moroccan forces,” they added.
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The festival called on Nolan, his cast, and his crew, to “stand in solidarity with the Sahrawi people who have been under military occupation for 50 years and who are routinely imprisoned and tortured for their peaceful struggle for self-determination.”
The festival’s director, Maria Carrion, said: “By filming part of The Odyssey in an occupied territory billed as a ‘news black hole’ by Reporters Without Borders, Nolan and his team, perhaps unknowingly and unwillingly, are contributing to the repression of the Sahrawi people by Morocco, and the Moroccan regime’s efforts to normalise its occupation of Western Sahara.”
Carrion continued, adding “we are sure… Nolan and his team would be horrified” if they understood the full implications of their decision.
Morocco has been a favourite filming location among Hollywood directors for decades, featuring as the backdrop for films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator movies.
Reda Benjelloun heads the Moroccan government agency in charge of promoting the film industry, and has hailed his country as a shoot destination.
“This is a production that is extremely important for Morocco,” he told Bloomberg.
“It’s the first major Hollywood production to choose the southern provinces.
