• Christopher Nolan faces criticism for shooting scenes of The Odyssey in Dakhla, Western Sahara.

• FiSahara and pro-Sahrawi voices accuse the production of legitimizing Morocco’s presence in the region.

• Moroccan officials frame the shoot as part of a strategy to promote Dakhla as a film and tourist hub.

British filmmaker Christopher Nolan faces growing criticism for choosing Dakhla, a city in Western Sahara, as a filming location for his upcoming film The Odyssey, scheduled for release in 2026.

Although the shoot is still ongoing, the controversy ignited last week after the Western Sahara International Film Festival (FiSahara) released a statement condemning the production’s presence in what it calls an “occupied and militarised city.”

“By filming part of The Odyssey in an occupied territory classified as a ‘desert for journalists’ by Reporters Without Borders, Nolan and his crew are contributing, perhaps unwittingly, to Morocco’s repression of the Sahrawi people,” said María Carrión, director of FiSahara. “They are also helping Morocco normalize its occupation of Western Sahara.”

#ChristopherNolan, acusado de legitimar la ocupación marroquí en el #SáharaOccidental por 'La Odisea'. El rodaje de la película continúa generando críticas, ahora por parte del #FiSahara por la elección de una localización concreta para la filmación.https://t.co/ip38tQ2DPH

— FiSahara (@FiSahara) July 30, 2025

Carrión urged Universal Pictures to halt production in Dakhla and to show solidarity with the Sahrawi people, who, according to her, have lived under military occupation for 50 years.

In Morocco, the production is being hailed as a success. Officials see it as part of a larger strategy to brand Dakhla not only as a tourist destination but also as a promising location for international film shoots.

“Dakhla, which is not known as a filming town, will in future offer extraordinary opportunities to foreign productions,” said Reda Benjelloun, director of the Moroccan Film Centre, in an interview with Médias24. “It has unique geography and available human resources.”

The controversy over the filming ties into a larger geopolitical struggle. Western Sahara remains classified by the United Nations as a “non-self-governing territory.” Morocco controls roughly 80% of the region both administratively and militarily, while the Polisario Front—a pro-independence group recognized by the African Union—continues to call for a referendum on self-determination.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem, a long-time advocate for Sahrawi independence, added his voice to the criticism. “For 50 years, Morocco has occupied Western Sahara, expelling the Sahrawi people form their cities. Dakhla is one of them, converted by the Moroccan occupiers into a tourist destination and now a film set,” he wrote on Instagram, “always with the aim of erasing the Sahrawi identity of the city.”

One week after the controversy began, neither Nolan nor Universal Pictures has issued an official response. In a global climate where public stances from artists carry weight, their eventual comments—or lack thereof—will be closely watched.

This article was initially published in French by Servan Ahougnon

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum