a bit of Hollywood in Morocco – addendum
The drive back to Marrakesh is more leisurely. Again we pass stunning Moroccan countryside:
Not many kilometers past Ouazazate we pass the Musee de Cinema, where we make a pit stop. Its a cheesy museum and we have fun posing around on the premises. I was born in Hollywood. For me its educational to see how Hollywood has influenced Morocco at the “Musee de Cinema”, across from the mega Atlas Film Studios, where many famous big budget movies were filmed, most recently the Gladiator, but also films like Cleopatra, Laurence of Arabia etc.
So much is written about how Rome, China, India, Arabia, Africa etc. has influenced the USA and Europe, but its also true that Hollywood has returned the favor… Case in point, Essaouira, was put on the map by Orson Welles.
In the last photo Mark insists I take a photo of him in front of Atlas Studios, which reminds him of his visual effects career in Hollywood. (a field from which he’s since retired.) We find it interesting that in the middle of nowhere in Morocco is a full blown movie studio and cinema museum. This illustrates just how far reaching the influence of Hollywood is, even in countries that profess to be anti-Western…
Atlas Studios reminds Mark of his years employed by Peter Jackson, working on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong too. For THAT story, read my book, Horizontal Rain
Of passing interest to those of you who do buy my book, here’s Mark’s reel. Its pretty impressive, isn’t it?
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