As early as 1987, the Lumiere Brothers sent one of their cameramen to film scenes from daily life in Morocco. Ten years later, another cameramen from the Lumieres, Mesguich, who later would become famous, brought home in his luggage what he called "slices of life" from Morocco. And thus, cinema began with documentary filmmaking.

World War I complicated everything and it was not until 1932 that the first feature films were shot in Morocco. The first was "Love in Morocco" by Rex Ingram with Alice Terry. Then came "The Five Cursed Gentlemen" by Julien Duvivier, followed by "The New Men" by Marcel L'Herbier and "The Big Game" by Jacques Feyder assisted by Marcel Carne, who later became a great filmmaker.

A year later, a cargo boat docked in the port of Casablanca, with large wind- blowing machines as powerful as a desert storm. With these machines of the "devil", Thorton Freelan made "Dark Sands" also known as "Jerico" with princess Kouka.

Immediately after world war II, various renowned american filmmakers grew very interested in Morocco, which over the years would become a great film set.

Henri Hathaway made "The Black Rose" with Orson Welles, Tryon Power and Cecil Aubry. Orson Welles disappeared for weeks and it was discovered that he had hidden himself in Mogador to write.

Years rolled by and Orson Welles, even more famous and mysterious, returned to Magador - now known as Essaouira to make "Othello", while Sam Newfield made "Captain Gallant" in northern Morocco. And then, always on the look out for beautiful landscapes, Terence Young chose the gorges of the southern Sahara for the decor of "Zarak" with Victor Mature and Anita Ekberg.

Cinema became an increasingly impressive enterprise. Alfred Hitchcock arrived in Marrakech with over 25 trucks loaded with equipment to make "The Man Who Knew Too Much". James Stewart and Doris Day spent the days singing in the streets of Marrakesh accompanied by crowds of small children. Later, it was David Lean's turn to arrive, not with the 25 trucks, but with an entire city for his "Lawrence of Arabia".

I Still remember, as young as I was, the 5,000 tents that we set up and the 20,000 extras with their camel to make the unforgettable scenes with Peter O Toole, Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif. And many other films have since been made in Morocco, such as "Patton" by Francis J. Chaffner, "The Man Who Would Be King" by John Huston, "The Return Of The Black Stallion" by Francis Ford Coppola, "Bolero" by John Derek, "The Jewel Of the Nile" by Lewis Treague, "Ishtar" by Elaine May, "The Living Daylights" With Timothy Dalton as Agent 007, and hundreds of other films.

For the beauty of its sites, their diversity and the always dazzling and changing light, Morocco has with the passage of time become the favorite location for shooting international films.