Sahrawi Activists Urge Boycott of $250 Million The Odyssey Over Western Sahara Shoot
Updated
Updated · Middle East Eye · Jul 16
Sahrawi Activists Urge Boycott of $250 Million The Odyssey Over Western Sahara Shoot
2 articles · Updated · Middle East Eye · Jul 16
Summary
$250 million epic The Odyssey faces a boycott call from Sahrawi activists and filmmakers, who say Christopher Nolan’s use of Dakhla normalizes Morocco’s 50-year occupation of Western Sahara ahead of Friday’s release.
Dakhla footage, they argue, was shot with the occupying power’s permission and security support, making the production complicit in whitewashing abuses and using Sahrawi land without consent.
FiSahara and other campaigners say they urged Nolan and Universal during last year’s shoot to leave the territory or cut the scenes, but the requests were rejected and Nolan has remained silent.
Sahrawi journalists and filmmakers frame the dispute against a backdrop of repression, citing colleagues serving life and 20-year sentences for documenting alleged human rights violations in the occupied territory.
The campaign casts the film as a wider test of whether major studios can treat disputed land as a neutral backdrop while the indigenous population remains displaced and denied self-determination.
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Overview
Christopher Nolan's film *The Odyssey* faces a major boycott just before its release due to its filming in occupied Western Sahara, a territory controlled by Morocco but internationally disputed. Activists argue that shooting in the White Sand Dune near Dakhla helps legitimize Morocco's occupation and distorts the reality of Sahrawi people's lives. Morocco uses tourism and cultural projects like this film to shape global perceptions and promote its narrative, selectively allowing access to those who support its stance. Despite protests and calls to halt production, the filmmakers did not meet activists' demands, highlighting deep ethical and political concerns.