Activists Call for Boycott of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

The campaign targets the production of The Odyssey for filming in the city of Dakhla, with critics arguing the move provides a cinematic veneer to an occupied region. Sahrawi filmmaker Mamine Hachimi, who has documented human rights abuses in the territory, emphasized that the protest is a demand for ethical accountability rather than an attack on artistic freedom. Hachimi pointed to the imprisonment of colleagues who faced severe sentencing for documenting local rights violations, framing the production as a legitimization of the occupying power.

Mohamedsalem Werad, another Sahrawi filmmaker, echoed these concerns, noting that the production required explicit permission from Moroccan authorities. Experts, including Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, have highlighted that the film ignores the status of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory under international law. The boycott movement, which includes signatures from hundreds of artists and human rights defenders, follows previous appeals for filmmakers to avoid becoming complicit in an occupation that has persisted since the 1975 withdrawal of Spanish forces.