OUARZAZATE, Morocco – Mbarka Jakanbaka has acted in so many Hollywood films during the last 20 years, he cannot remember them all.

He has only seen a couple of them on the big screen and does not even know the title of the last film in which he appeared dressed as an old Egyptian.

“I was in the movie for 15 days. It was about religion. My son knows what it is called,” said Jakanabaka, a 46-year-old sitting on the floor of his dark living room with his legs stretched out. The blue paint was peeling from the walls and a pile of bricks were covering a broken window.

More than half of the 50,000 inhabitants of Ouarzazate, a desert city at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, directly or indirectly work for the cinematography industry as extras or doubles in action scenes, or behind the camera with technicians, sound, or scenic aides.

Morocco has attracted Hollywood and European film actors and producers for many years, due to the various landscapes it has. And Ouarzazate is the perfect place for an exotic environment.

Jakanbaka, her husband Mohammed Raoui, 56, her three sons: Azzedine, 26, Hicham, 24, and Rachid, 12, as well as her daughters Hana and Amal, have all appeared in films as extras.

The majority of the extras live in the Kasbah of the city, with its red and brown clay homes and unpaved narrow streets. Many movie makers have filmed high budget films there, such as “Rules of Engagement” in 2000 and “Kingdom of Heaven” in 2004.

When they are not working on a film, the inhabitants of Kasbah are in their homes with small rooms that are united by narrow corridors.

There is no running water, so women wash clothing in a communal fountain in the plaza. Barefoot children play between waste mountains. The men lounge in the shade of buildings that extend up towards the sky.

The only movie theatre in the city shut down five years ago, due to lack of clientele.

The people are grateful for the film industry, even though the salaries are $15 per day. Those that have experience make more, between $24 and $60 per day. Some European or African extras without any experience make $40 per day for movies that are filmed in Morocco, which has provoked discrimination complaints on behalf of the Ouarzazate inhabitants.

All in all, the pay is not bad, considering that the average salary there is $6 per day. In the film industry, one makes in four months what one would make in one year in any other job.

“Kingdom of Heaven”, a $180 million production, provided work for 2,800 people for eight months.

Azzedine Raoui, son of Jakanbaka, who has worked in the film industry since seven years of age, says that he prefers not to look for another job when he is not working on a film because he fears losing out on an opportunity.

Abdelhaq Ouzzine, a 45-year-old, considers himself to be a professional actor and wants to be treated as such. He is proud of the family tradition; his father appeared as an extra in “Lawrence of Arabia” more than 40 years ago.

“The problem that we have in Ouarzazate is that we act, but they pay us as extras,” he said in English. “When I played the role of Kane and I killed Abel, they paid me $24 per day. That is an actor’s role, but I kept my mouth shut. We don’t have a syndicate to claim things.”

The directors of the film industry emphasize the benefits the industry has brought to the village.

“Evidently, the film industry is what keeps the village alive,” said Robert Halmi, president of Hallmark Entertainment and executive producer of “The Ten Commandments”, which was partly filmed in Ouarzazate.

“It is very, very expensive for us to make a television movie of this scale,” said Robert Dornhelm, director of the four-hour mini-series that was executed at great cost.

“We need to look for places where one can recreate this and can count on low cost manual labor and extras.”

Popularity: 1% [?]