Why Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Is Facing Boycott Calls Before Its Release

Hollywood icon Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, an adaptation of Homer’s epic, has been one of the highly anticipated films of the year. However, the film has run into a boycott call just before its release over where part of it was filmed.

The Western Sahara International Film Festival, also known as FiSahara, has called for a public boycott of the film because Nolan filmed scenes near the coastal city of Dakhla, a territory in Western Sahara controlled by Morocco but claimed by the indigenous Sahrawi people.

Nolan’s The Odyssey, which stars Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Matt Damon, is set for global release July 17.

FiSahara, which takes place in Algeria’s Sahrawi refugee camps, argues that filming in mineral-rich Western Sahara helps “normalize” Morocco’s presence in the territory.

The festival’s executive director, Maria Carrion, said in a statement that Nolan, in stepping onto the premiere red carpet, would also be “trampling on international law.”

“When Christopher Nolan steps on the red carpet on his way to the premiere's screening, he will also be stepping on International Law, specifically the right of the Sahrawi people to their territory and resources, which are being illegally exploited by Morocco,” the festival said in a statement.

Notably, last year, the festival had pressured Nolan to cut the scenes filmed in the territory.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem, a longtime supporter of the Sahrawi cause, was quoted by the festival as saying that he’d encourage Nolan “to understand the history of the Moroccan regime’s repression against the Sahrawi people.”

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, has largely been controlled by Morocco since 1975, according to Clownfish TV.

While Morocco considers it an integral part of the kingdom and has proposed an autonomy plan for the region, an Algeria-backed independence movement, the Polisario Front, maintains its demands to hold an independence referendum on self-determination.

The United Nations does not recognize the region as a Moroccan territory; instead, its listing labels it as a “non-self-governing territory.” It's over 50 years now; the region remains one of the world’s longest-running territorial disputes.

FiSahara reportedly describes Dakhla as an “occupied, militarized city.”

Neither Nolan nor Universal Pictures has publicly addressed the controversy.

According to SlashFilm, The Odyssey is costing Universal Pictures a whopping $250 million (before marketing), making it one of the most expensive R-rated films to date.