Moroccan Culture
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Moroccan Culture Moroccan Cinema
Morocco is a country that is very rich in a resource that most people over look everyday! It has a resource that brings jobs, money, and cultural change. They have a beautiful, eventful, and historical setting of land that enables them to take advantage of the ever growing industry of cinema. From as early as 1949, when Orson Wells did Othello, directors have been taking advantage of the surroundings of Morocco. Famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Douglas, Jean Luc Gerard, and Martin Scorsese have used this wonderful country to make films we all love. Many directors and actors from all over the world have and will travel to Morocco in order to make amazing films, documentaries, and advertisements. This being said the culture of Morocco has and will continue to be affected. The culture will be affected by the products brought by foreign people. It will be affected by the advertisements that are used. And it will be affected by the films that are being produced. Some of which may never be seen in the county it’s self. Yet the country of Morocco has done an excellent job catering to the film industry, and has prospered from films on going success. hiiiihi
Presently in Morocco the film industry is growing rapidly. Many directors and film producers are utilizing the resources and geographical advantages of Morocco. The beautiful land is a perfect setting to resemble Saudi Arabia, India, and Tibet. It can provide multiple settings without hostilities. The settings that can be seen in Morocco include beaches, deserts, mountains, and large cities. The major thing that gives Morocco an advantage in the film industry right now is the low cost of production. The Moroccan people have a small monopoly however on the film industry in their country. This makes it almost impossible to shoot films on their soil without the help of one of their production companies.
However the fact that a producer would have to use their assistance is not really a bad thing. In the country there are about 25 organizations that are production assistance companies. If you are filming anything in the country and it takes more than 3 weeks you are required to use the assistance of these companies. The good thing is they provide you with all the necessary paperwork and permits, a low cost yet high quality filming crew, and equipment at about half the cost of the going rate. This is an excellent opportunity for local men and women to obtain employment. The jobs that the local people will be filling are Assistant Directors, Production Manager, Location Manager, Camera Man, Microphone Man, Assistant Camera Man, Editors, Art director, Make-Up Specialist, and the list goes on and on. It brings thousands of jobs into the country, which helps the standard of living. This will also bring capital to the country in the form of taxes, goods sold, and tariffs. The country of Morocco has done an excellent job of embracing the change in the film industry. They will continue to grow and produce great films from their beautiful settings. And we will continue to benefit by having excellent entertainment.
Uncertainty avoidance is a term used to describe a society’s ability to deal with risk and change. A country’s tolerance level of uncertainty avoidance can effect not only the economy, but the rules, regulations, and laws imposed on the people of this culture and prospective multinational corporations (1). Although Morocco is located in north-western Africa, it is considered to be an Arab country. Due to these close ties, Morocco follows the same cultural patterns of other Arab countries. Similar to many other Arab countries, Morocco’s tolerance of risk and uncertainty is very low (1). Morocco’s high uncertainty avoidance causes the culture to try to control every aspect of its environment to avoid risk (1). A flaw with this trait is it will usually not allow a country to change or adapt, which may stifle the economic growth of Morocco.
A few common characteristics of high uncertainty avoidance countries are a long and detailed history, a homogenous culture, and resistance to new ideas and concepts (3). Morocco fulfills all these criteria. With such a long and storied history, the people of Morocco are proud of their heritage and traditions. As the world changes and new ideas are introduced, this may threaten the long standing culture of Morocco. Uncertain how much things would change would cause this proud nation to resist change even more to protect their traditions and lifestyle preventing them to take any risks to possibly adapt and change to stay updated with a changing world around them (1). Since about 99% of Morocco’s people are considered to ethnically being Arab-Berber the culture and traditions of Morocco are well sustained (2). With this support, it may prove extremely difficult for new ideas or products to prosper in this culture. This also applies to companies as well. If companies try to enter this ethnically strong community, without properly understanding Morocco’s culture it may prove to be a difficult task to succeed in this market.
Now, here are some tips which may help you in your venture into a high uncertainty avoidance culture like Morocco. Do not expect new ideas to be easily accepted into the culture (3). It will take time to develop the idea and to get people to support it. Involve the people who will be affected by your new product or idea (3). Involve them by letting them know as much as possible about the product (3). The more they know the more control they will feel they have and the less uncertain they will be about it (3). Be sure to adapt this product to Morocco’s long standing culture since, the culture is a huge part of the nation (3). If a product is adapted to their culture then it will seem to be complementing the culture as opposed to changing or leaving it behind. Last, be sure to back up your product with as many facts and statistics as possible (3). With solid facts, it will reduce the uncertainty felt by the culture and may be more accepting of your product or idea (3). These facts will be thoroughly looked at with much doubt, but hard facts will help your case and hopefully provide some much needed convincing to help the company to succeed in this culture (3). The risk adverse Morocco is a tough market to enter, but with the right preparation and tools you may be able to profit in this long standing culture.
1. (2003). Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved October
30, 2007, from ITIM International Web site: http:// www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_arab_world.shtml
2. Morocco General Data. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from UAM Web
site: http://www.uam.es/otroscentros/medina/morocco/ morgendemo.htm
3. Uncertainty Avoidance. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from Kwintessential
Cross Cultural Solutions Web site: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/ intercultural/uncertainty-avoidance.html
