Paris (France), July 6, 2026 (SPS) – International media outlets from Europe and elsewhere have highlighted the controversy surrounding the filming of scenes from American director Christopher Nolan's upcoming film “The Odyssey” in the occupied city of Dakhla, following calls by the FiSahara International Film Festival to boycott the production on the grounds that it was filmed in a territory under occupation.
In this context, the French newspaper Le Figaro published a report on the campaign led by the FiSahara International Film Festival. The newspaper quoted the festival's executive director, Maria Carrión, as saying that filming the movie in the occupied territory of Western Sahara amounted to "complicity with the illegal occupation of Western Sahara," arguing that the choice of Dakhla as a filming location disregards international law and the rights of the Sahrawi people.
The report noted that the film's cast, which includes several internationally renowned actors, shot scenes for the production on a beach in occupied Dakhla in July 2025, an event that received extensive coverage in Moroccan media at the time.
According to Le Figaro, the FiSahara International Film Festival sent a letter to director Christopher Nolan requesting clarification regarding his decision to film in the territory, but had not received an official response as of yet.
The newspaper also reported that the festival's organizers called for the film to be treated in the same manner as artistic productions filmed in occupied territories, arguing that ignoring the legal status of Western Sahara contributes to the marginalization of the Sahrawi people's suffering.
Le Figaro further referred to the position of Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who urged Christopher Nolan to familiarize himself with the history of the Western Sahara issue and the violations suffered by the Sahrawi people. The report also recalled Bardem's participation in the 2012 documentary Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony, which focused on the Western Sahara conflict.
The renewed international media attention has once again drawn focus to the legal status of Western Sahara, which remains on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, as well as to the Sahrawi people's demand, led by the Polisario Front, to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international law.
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