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Western Sahara is a sparsely populated country roughly the size of Colorado, located in northwestern Africa, just south of Morocco. It’s inhabited by a traditionally nomadic people known as Sahrawis, who have a distinct history, culture, and dialect. The land is currently under the occupation of Moroccan forces who moved into Western Sahara in 1975 in violation of a landmark decision by the International Court of Justice and a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions which have called for the withdrawal of foreign forces and the recognition of the right of the people of Western Sahara for self-determination.

Efforts to enforce these resolutions, however, have been blocked by France and the United States. In 1991, the United Nations ordered a ceasefire to be monitored by the peacekeeping force known as MINURSO (the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), but Morocco prevented the scheduled referendum on self-determination from taking place. Despite the efforts of intergovernmental organizations and civil society, Morocco has continued to ignore human rights concerns expressed by UN agencies, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others. Further, Morocco’s Western government supporters have helped facilitate the monarchy’s lack of cooperation and adherence to global governance.

Christopher Nolan’s most recent film The Odyssey was partially filmed in Western Sahara and his production team took nearly a week shooting scenes by the coastal city of Dakhla. The choice to film in a territory under foreign belligerent occupation has led to calls for a boycott from human rights groups, arguing that the film gives legitimacy to the Moroccan government’s ongoing violations of international law and mistreatment of the Indigenous Sahrawi population. In this interview, political scientist and Truthout contributor Stephen Zunes provides more insight into the issue with the geopolitics of film in the region.

Daniel Falcone: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey reportedly filmed scenes in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Can you describe the criticism coming from Sahrawi writers and activists? What responsibilities do artists/filmmakers have in territories that are occupied?

Stephen Zunes: In accepting generous subsidies from the Moroccan regime, the film’s producers have provided legitimacy to the illegal occupation. It would be the equivalent of filming in Israeli- or Russian-occupied territories in collaboration with those governments. The producers of The Odyssey are siding with the Trump administration in undermining international law and helping the repressive Moroccan monarchy tighten its grip on the territory. Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, and other human rights groups have ranked Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara as among the most politically repressed nations in the world. Since any protest within the occupied territory is not tolerated, it is imperative that global civil society mobilize against this injustice.

The Odyssey Challenges the Right-Wing Myth of a “Golden Past”

Morocco wants to turn the Dakhla region, where some segments of the movie were........

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