Morocco

Atlas Studios, Cinema Museum, and Ait Ben Haddou offer cinephiles the perfect destinations for exploring movie sets and learning about Morocco's role in the ...

Many alumni have since made a name for themselves in the cinema world, the door guard told Morocco World News. Rather, the museum is a maze of old movie sets preserved in perfect condition, a large percentage of which seem to have been built for films on Abrahamic religions. I visited earlier this month, as the Gladiator II crew was gearing up for filming to begin in May. Abdel Aziz of Ait Ben Haddou, for example, has been in ten movies because filmmakers cast lots of locals as extras, he told Morocco World News. The narrow roads, lined with crafts for sale, are packed with tourists. Despite knowing that the sets are but a facade made of wood and plaster, their sheer geographic diversity, from buddhist Tibet to various American military vehicles used for desert-based action films, dazzled. Buy some dates and rose water, the local specialties. Students study all aspects of cinema, especially the technical part such as camerawork, lighting, or set-building. This dream comes true in Morocco’s Ouarzazate, the perfect destination for cinephiles with its studio, museum and natural beauty. The grandest set, perhaps, belongs to “Cleopatra” (1999). A pillory — long wooden plank with holes — that trapped slaves by their necks was also used to serve mead to warriors, our guide said. For an artsy aesthetic, we strolled through ancient Greek courtyards and lounged about on Mesopotamian thrones.