This Is Why Christopher Nolan Is Facing Backlash Over A Location On His New Film The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan at last year's OscarsChristopher Nolan’s huge-scale adaptation of The Odyssey already looks set to be one of the most talked-about movies of 2026.Boasting a stacked all-star cast, never-before-seen technology, ambitious settings and, of course, hugely revered source material, the Oscar winner is following his epic Oppenheimer with an even bigger swing, that could well set a new bar when it comes to blockbuster filmmaking.However, the much-hyped film hasn’t been without its controversies, even at this early stage – and it’s currently at the centre of another due to Chris’ choice of filming location.This is the story so far…What is the latest controversy surrounding Christopher Nolan’s next film The Odyssey?The film follows Odysseus, played by Oppenheimer’s Matt Damon, on his epic trek across the globe to make his way home at the end of the Trojan War.Because of this, filming has already been underway all over the world, with scenes having so far been shot in rural Iceland, the Mediterranean, a Scottish castle and a soundstage in Los Angeles, as well as Greece, where the story originated.Earlier this month, both Matt and his co-star Zendaya were reported to be filming a sequence in Dakhla, a city in the Western Sahara which has been under Moroccan occupation for the last 50 years, which was met with a backlash.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Odyssey Movie (@theodysseymovie)Why is The Odyssey filming in the Western so controversial?Western Sahara is a disputed territory, described by the UN as “non-self-governing”, with Dakhla considered to be the capital city of the Moroccan-occupied Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab region.Organisers of the Western Sahara international film festival (known as FiSahara) are among Nolan’s most vocal critics, and urged him to cease filming in the area, claiming that while the city of Dakhla is a “beautiful location with cinematic sand dunes”, it was still “first and foremost” an “occupied and militarised city whose indigenous Sahrawi population is subjected to brutal repression” by its occupying forces.María Carrión, the executive director of FiSahara, claimed that whether knowingly or unknowingly, Nolan, his actors and his crew were “contributing to Morocco’s repression of the Sahrawi people and to the Moroccan regime’s efforts to normalise its occupation of Western Sahara” by filming in the region.“We are sure that if they understood the full implications of filming a high-profile film in a territory whose Indigenous peoples cannot make their own films about their stories under occupation, Nolan and his team would be horrified,” Carrión added.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Odyssey Movie (@theodysseymovie)What has Christopher Nolan said about the controversy around his film The Odyssey filming in Western Sahara?While the filmmaker has not spoken about the matter, The Guardian has alleged that the Odyssey shoot in Dakhla was completed in around four days.They also claimed that the film shoot was already over when the FiSahara organisers raised the issue of The Odyssey shooting there.HuffPost UK has also contacted representatives for both Christopher Nolan and The Odyssey for comment.While filming on The Odyssey is not yet complete, the movie is due to hit cinemas in July 2026.MORE FILM NEWS:Here's Why Mary Poppins Was The Most Complained-About Film Of Last YearFantastic Four Star Vanessa Kirby Sets The Record Straight Over 1 Of The Film's Biggest MysteriesWinona Ryder Was Warned She'd 'Never Work Again' Because Of This 1 Film Of Hers

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