Odyssey and Sirat – desert films that remain silent about Western Sahara
Kapitál
Activists and celebrities such as Greta Thunberg and Javier Bardem are calling for a boycott of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey . The reason? The film was partly shot in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. Is it ethical to make a film in an occupied territory?
Activists and celebrities such as Greta Thunberg and Javier Bardem are calling for a boycott of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. The reason? The film was partially shot in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. Is it ethical to make a film in an occupied territory?
On July 17 of this year, the Polish premiere of Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey took place. The new film by the director of blockbusters such as Interstellar, Oppenheimer, and Inception is a contemporary adaptation of the Homeric myth about King Odysseus’s return from the victorious Trojan War. This grand story speaks of moral dilemmas from several thousand years ago as well as those of today. The problem is that it was filmed in a place where the local society has no right to tell its own stories on camera.
The Dispute over Western Sahara
Western Sahara, one of the places where The Odyssey was filmed, is widely considered Africa’s last colony. The territory, formerly colonized by Spain, has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. However, its international status remains unclear. At present, fifty countries recognize Western Sahara’s independence, but none of them is a power that plays a significant role on the international stage. Most Sahrawi people – the indigenous inhabitants of Western Sahara – live in refugee camps in Algeria, where they had to flee after the invasion by Moroccan forces.
Every year, more and more Moroccans settle in Western Sahara, and the Sahrawi people are being systematically displaced from there.
Christopher Nolan organized four days of filming in July 2025 in Dakhla, a city in Western Sahara. Dakhla offers a unique desert landscape, ideal for a film setting. Filming in this location was also cheaper and easier to carry out than in other Saharan locations. From the very beginning, the production received letters from activists requesting that filming in the area be stopped, later asking that certain scenes featuring shots of Western Sahara not be included, and finally demanding their complete omission. The requests were not granted. Even an open letter signed by celebrities and activists such as Javier Bardem and Greta Thunberg failed to stop this part of the production.
The Odyssey and Ethics
Why should making films in Western Sahara be unethical in itself?
“Producers obtain permission to film directly from the Moroccan government, not from the Sahrawis. They have political representation, for example at the UN, but their activities are illegal in Morocco. The entire film crew receives Moroccan visas, and the Moroccan government uses the Hollywood production for its propaganda,” says Lena Khalid, a Polish reporter who has been covering the issue of Western Sahara for ten years.
“It is also a blow to the Sahrawis who have been living in Algeria for fifty years, where more than 170,000 people are waiting for the possibility of returning to their own country. At present, they cannot even visit or settle there, because that would require the occupier’s permission. And it grants permission only to those who are willing to renounce their own nationality. The Moroccan government allowed an American director to do so, while the inhabitants themselves are not permitted to reside in their own country,” Khalid adds.
The Sahrawis Want to Be Heard
In recent years, another film indirectly depicting Western Sahara was screened in Polish cinemas. It is the art-house hit Sirat, directed by Oliver Laxe. This musical road movie tells the story of a group of partygoers traveling through Morocco. The film contains no apparent details of the local realities, but it is certain that the second part takes place “somewhere near the border with Mauritania,” that is, de facto, in Western Sahara. The story, however, focuses exclusively on fans of electronic music, while the dangers lurking in the surroundings serve the director as a means of building tension.
“The film Sirat also addresses the subject of minefields. It is worth mentioning that the second-longest wall in the world and the longest minefield in the world run through Western Sahara. There are probably 7–10 million mines, which have claimed the lives of more than two and a half thousand people,” Khalid points out.
At the same time, making films about the lives of the Sahrawis and telling stories about the occupation of Western Sahara is very dangerous for them.
Khalid admits that the occupied people have no such opportunity at all. She does, however, cite an example of such an attempt: several years ago, the Sahrawis made the film 3 stolen cameras about the efforts of activists – and risked their own lives and those of their families in doing so.
The Sahrawi Working Group describes in its statement the surveillance, intimidation, arbitrary detentions, confiscation of equipment, and other forms of repression faced by local filmmakers and private individuals because of their documentation of peaceful demonstrations. Foreign journalists are also barred from entering Western Sahara and are usually deported when attempting to cross the border. In this context, the Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet stands out; in 2005, he referred to the Sahrawis living in Algeria as “refugees.” For these words, a Moroccan court banned him from practicing journalism for ten years.
Because of the dangers of making films in Western Sahara, many works by Sahrawis are created abroad – for example, in refugee camps in Algeria. Since 2007, the FiSahara film festival has been held annually in the Tindouf camp, focusing primarily on human rights issues. It is the only film festival in the world held in a refugee camp. For years, it was supported by artists such as Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem. In 2012, he even produced a documentary about Western Sahara.
Western Sahara and Political Changes
Nolan’s The Odyssey is the first major Hollywood hit filmed in Western Sahara. Many Moroccan portals, such as Watan24 and Al Moujtamaa, report that the film’s premiere could mark the beginning of the normalization not only of filmmaking but also of the development of tourism according to Moroccan rules. Significant political events have also taken place over the past several years. These too may have influenced the fact that the Moroccan king’s approval of the commercial exploitation of the Sahara is not as shocking as it once was.
For example, in 2020 Morocco joined the famous Abraham Accords on the normalization of relations with Israel, brokered by the United States. In exchange for the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel, the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. In October of last year, the UN also adopted a resolution supporting Morocco’s proposal to establish an autonomous territory in Western Sahara.
As Human Rights Watch states in its report, the proposal to establish autonomy does not allow for independence, does not provide for the right to reparations, and does not define the people of Western Sahara, who should have the right to self-determination. The organization claims that the proposal to establish autonomy guarantees the Sahrawis no rights, primarily because the majority of the region’s current inhabitants are Moroccans who were lured there over many years with various benefits.
The 2025 UN resolution represents a huge change from its original position in 1975.
At that time, the International Court of Justice stated in its advisory opinion that Morocco had no territorial sovereignty over Western Sahara and emphasized the importance of the right of the inhabitants of the region to self-determination. For many years, this opinion served as a lifeline for the Sahrawis at various meetings in international forums, during conflicts, and in legal disputes. However, the situation has changed drastically over the past several years.
Where Does Film End and Politics Begin?
The filming of The Odyssey in Western Sahara has indeed prompted calls for a boycott in certain circles, but in reality it has no real impact on attendance. The Moroccan government, on the other hand, is actively attempting to promote Western Sahara as a tourist region of Morocco and as a location for further film projects.
During filming, Nolan was photographed with the Moroccan culture minister, who later stated that “this photograph is exactly what Morocco needs to promote Dakhla as a future film location.”
Fans of the production might argue that neither Sirat nor The Odyssey concerns the problems of the Sahrawi people or the politics of the Kingdom of Morocco. Khalid, however, rejects such an interpretation of neutrality: “Simply claiming that a production is apolitical does not mean that it is neutral. In the reality of a long-term occupation, the very fact of obtaining permission from the occupying government and presenting the location as part of the occupying state has political consequences. Is there an ethical or neutral way to make films in Crimea, occupied by Russia?”
This text is part of the PERSPECTIVES project – a new brand for independent, constructive, and multiperspective journalism. The project is financed by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA accepts any responsibility for them.