The Odyssey woke? Not woke enough!
Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" had its worldwide premiere last week.
It has been a huge success, breaking box office records. And it has created a niche IMAX following, as it was shot entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras.
There was a faux controversy stirred up by right wing figures like Elon Musk on X saying that the film was woke and not true to history (did they mean mythology?) when featuring diverse actors of different nationalities and ethnicities. I didn't hear them complaining about the American accents throughout!
But the reason The Odyssey is not woke enough is that Nolan filmed some scenes in occupied Western Sahara, and did not remove the scenes or apologise when asked by the Sahrawi people.
The Sahrawi people subsequently sought a boycott of the film.
This was enough for me to also boycott the film despite being a spears throw from an IMAX cinema.
If you have seen the film, I do hope you enjoyed it, but maybe you could consider a donation to, or becoming a member of, the following organisations so that awareness of Western Sahara and the plight of the Sahrawi people is elevated especially as Morocco is due to host the next men's football World Cup in 2030:
The Australia Western Sahara Association https://awsa.org.au/
Western Sahara Resource Watch: https://wsrw.org/en
If you haven't seen it, don't, stay woke, and hopefully we can see it one day when Western Sahara is no longer occupied, and truly independent and free! Solidarity with the Sahrawi people!
You can find out more about Western Sahara in these documentaries:
3 Stolen Cameras: Activist group Equipe Media, fight to keep their cameras. They use them to document the Moroccan kingdoms’ violations of human rights in Africa’s last colony. A documentary film from 2017. Read more at 3stolencameras.com
Sons of the Clouds, the last colony: a 2012 Spanish documentary film about the Sahrawi people living in refugee camps and the fight for Western Sahara featuring Javier Bardem
