In the late 1980s, film director Bernardo Bertolucci appeared in Tangier. Few people in the city were surprised; they were already accustomed to receiving curious people who seemed to be fleeing from something or seeking inspiration. Bertolucci was looking for the American writer Paul Bowles, who in 1949 had written The protective sky in Tangier in the midst of an existential crisis. He had imagined a tale of loss and destruction about an American marriage falling apart in Morocco. A harsh and magical tale that would fascinate millions of people. One of them, Bernardo.