A group of tourists explore the cinematic Sahara dunes outside Merzouga, Morocco, one of the locations used in the filming of "Sex and the City 2." (Solana Pyne/ GlobalPost)
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"Sex and the City 2," "Prince of Persia" filmed in Morocco for its sweeping scenery, cheap extras.
A group of tourists explore the cinematic Sahara dunes outside Merzouga, Morocco, one of the locations used in the filming of "Sex and the City 2." (Solana Pyne/ GlobalPost)
( / )RABAT, Morocco — At first glance, “Sex and the City 2” and “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” seem to have little in common beyond the fact that both films opened last week.
But look past the designer stilettos and digital swordplay, and you might notice an uncanny similarity in the scenery.
Although one is set in modern-day Abu Dhabi and the other in sixth-century Persia, both productions spent significant chunks of time shooting in Morocco.
That’s not a coincidence. Veterans of Morocco’s $50 million-per-year film industry say the country’s combination of low costs, bright light and big dunes keeps Western filmmakers coming back here to shoot “again and again.”
“Morocco has so many advantages,” said Amine Tazi, general manager of Morocco’s biggest film-production company, Atlas and CLA Studios — which built the sets for “Prince of Persia.”
Even when watching a film his company didn’t help make, “I start recognizing whether a movie is played in Morocco very quickly,” Tazi said.
These moments of recognition are happening more frequently, he said, largely because the small North African nation is so good at standing in for someplace else.
Morocco’s vast deserts, bustling medieval cities and soaring mountains have appeared in thousands of films and television spots — depicting locales as diverse as Tibet, Jerusalem and even New Mexico. In one of Morocco’s first screen roles, the desert here served as a battle scene backdrop in the 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia.”
“If I’m a filmmaker, I have to find the place where I can shoot my story,” said Ahmed Abounouom, founder of Dune Films, which managed Moroccan production for “Prince of Persia” and pre-production for “Sex and the City 2.” “Morocco can pass for many countries.”
For a racy film like “Sex 2,” Abounouom said, Morocco’s reputation for tolerance was as much of an asset as its golden sands. Dubai reportedly denied the sequel-makers’ request to shoot on location there.
“Dubai or Morocco, both of them are Muslim countries and to talk about sex is taboo,” Abounouom said. “But in Morocco, we’re not really conservative. Morocco is very close to Europe, so people hold to the religion but at the same time they want to have a modern country.”
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/100528/morocco-home-sex-the-city-2-and-prince-persia
