Now that everyone is discussing Nolan's Odyssey movie, I feel like it's a good time to let non-Italians know that the production dumped plastic props into the Italian sea. Weirdly enough I could not find any article in English about it but it's a fucking problem nonetheless.
I might translate this article later today. This one was the most complete one, even in Italian news it's not talked about that much.
Non è la prima volta che la produzione solleva un vespaio in Sicilia. A Lipari una squadra di sub sarebbe però già impegnata a bonificare i
They dumped plastic skeletons in environmentally protected areas, against the literal contracts they had to sign to get the permits to film in environmentally protected areas. Like they not only did a bad ecological thing that freaked out some divers, they literally broke environmental protection laws and their contract with the Italian government
They also filmed in illegally occupied territories in western sahara
Sahrawi filmmakers criticise Christopher Nolan for complicity in Moroccan exploitation of Sahrawi land
"Choosing to film in occupied Western Sahara was not a politically neutral production decision - it meant operating with the permission of the occupying power in a territory where the indigenous Sahrawi people have long been denied the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination."
Werad, who gained attention with his documentary on the life of Sahrawi singer Mariem Hassan, told MEE a boycott was the only option left to viewers.
"A boycott sends a clear message that filmmakers cannot expect audiences to overlook decisions that risk legitimising an occupation," he said.
Another Sahrawi filmmaker, Abidin Mohamed Hamudi, said the whole team behind The Odyssey were "complicit" in the subjugation of the Western Sahara.
He added that Hollywood's attitude was an extension of capitalism and Western economies' attitude towards the resources of the Global South in its most "grotesque, hyper-realised form".
"Shame on them - history will put everyone in the place they deserve, and they will be in the dustbin of history, remembered as nothing but cultural parasites," he told MEE.
