Things to do · Ouarzazate
For decades, film-makers have brought ancient Egypt, Rome, the Holy Land and far-off deserts to life in the kasbahs and dunes around Ouarzazate — the reason the region is nicknamed 'Ouallywood'. This guide looks at the films and series associated with the area, why the southern Moroccan landscape stands in for so many places, and how a film fan can turn a visit into a tour of the locations and studios.
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Ouarzazate offers a rare combination: reliable sunshine and clear desert light, dramatic dunes, gorges and earthen kasbahs, two large studio complexes, and a deep local base of crews, extras and set-builders. Lower production costs than many Western locations have helped keep international shoots clustering here since the 1980s.
Among the productions long associated with southern Morocco is David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, one of the films that helped establish the region's reputation for sweeping desert cinematography. It set a template that later sword-and-sandal and biblical epics would follow.
Ridley Scott's Gladiator is among the best-known productions linked to the area, with the UNESCO ksar of Aït Ben Haddou used in its North African sequences. The earthen towers and city gates are exactly the kind of ready-made ancient-world backdrop that draws film-makers here.
Ridley Scott returned to the region for Kingdom of Heaven, another of the historical epics associated with Ouarzazate's studios and surrounding desert, which stand in convincingly for the medieval Near East.
The desert and kasbah scenery around Ouarzazate is widely cited among the locations used for adventure films such as The Mummy, where Moroccan dunes and ruins double for ancient Egypt — one of the looks the region is most often called on to provide.
Prince of Persia is another large production associated with Morocco's south, drawn by the same blend of desert vistas and historic earthen architecture that suits a fantasy version of the ancient Persian world.
Not every film here is an ancient epic. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel, partly set in rural Morocco, is among the contemporary productions associated with the wider region — a reminder that the landscape plays modern North Africa as readily as antiquity.
Aït Ben Haddou is widely reported to have appeared in Game of Thrones, with the ksar used among the locations for a slaver city in Daenerys's storyline. Local guides at the site enjoy pointing out the angles used on screen.
Beyond individual titles, Ouarzazate is a long-standing home for biblical and ancient-world films and mini-series in general. Its studios hold standing sets — temples, city gates and walls — built and reused for this genre over many years.
You cannot watch shoots, but you can visit a great deal: Atlas Studios and CLA Studios offer guided walks past surviving sets and props; Aït Ben Haddou and the in-town Taourirt Kasbah are real, walkable locations; and the surrounding desert and gorges are open to explore on a 4x4 or guided day trip.
A satisfying film day pairs a morning at Aït Ben Haddou with an afternoon studio tour, or vice versa; add the Taourirt Kasbah in Ouarzazate itself. Go early for the best light and coolest temperatures, and ask local guides which specific corners were used — they often know the productions in detail.
Productions associated with Ouarzazate and nearby Aït Ben Haddou include Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, The Mummy, Prince of Persia, Babel and the series Game of Thrones, alongside many biblical and ancient-world epics. The region's studios and kasbahs have stood in for ancient Egypt, Rome and the Near East for decades.
Ouarzazate offers clear desert light, dramatic dune, gorge and kasbah scenery, two big studio complexes, experienced local crews and extras, and lower production costs than many Western locations — which is why it became a film-making hub nicknamed 'Ouallywood'.
Yes. Aït Ben Haddou and the Taourirt Kasbah are real, walkable locations, while Atlas Studios and CLA Studios offer guided tours past surviving sets and props. The surrounding desert and gorges can be explored on a 4x4 or guided day trip.
Yes. A studios tour focuses on visiting the Atlas and CLA lots and their standing sets. This guide is about the films and productions themselves — what was shot in the region, why the landscape is used, and how to build a film-themed visit around both the studios and the real locations.
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