Where was the Star Wars movie filmed? Sahara desert, planet Tatooine, scenery for "Star Wars". IV. Yoda, Jabba, Obi-Wan: who's who in Star Wars

Surely, many fans of the Star Wars movie saga will want to visit the set of their favorite film, especially after watching the new episode of “The Force Awakens,” which is already breaking all box office records. The Telegraph has compiled a list of 20 places on the planet where Star Wars was filmed.

1. The Skellig Islands, located west of County Kerry and praised by Bernard Shaw as an "incredible, unpredictable and magical place", became the stage for the iconic saga. The island of Little Skellig is closed to the public, and on the island of Skellig Michael there is an ancient monastery built in the 6th century, which also attracts great amount tourists. However, getting to Skellig Michael is not easy. Rocky steep banks and strong winds make it possible to visit mysterious place only in summer and to a limited number of ships.

11. The ice planet Hoth, which appeared in Episode V of the saga "The Empire Strikes Back", is actually the Hardangerjokulen glacier near Finse. There is no highways, however, Fins station is the most high point railway line connecting and.

12. Most of Filming for Episode VI "Return of the Jedi" took place in , where Jabba the Hutt's palace was located in the Buttercup Valley Wildlife Refuge in the Yuma Desert. A tall trees planet Endor - forests in national park Redwood National Park, located in California. The height of sequoias exceeds 105 meters.

13. In Episode I "The Phantom Menace" Tunisia can be seen again. Ksar Ouled Soltane is a Berber fortress located 16 kilometers from the city of Tataouine. In the story, Anakin Skywalker grew up in the Mos Espa quarter, where only slaves lived. The death match between Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul was filmed at Onk Jemal in the rocky desert near Tozeur.

14. The Italian Palace of Caserta, a former royal residence in the city, became the royal palace on Naboo for filmmakers. In 1997, UNESCO declared the palace a monument World Heritage humanity. In its beauty and grandeur it can be compared with the French Versailles.

16. Many scenes from the fifth film of the saga were filmed in,. It was here, along the main palace square, that the newlyweds Anakin and Padme walked.

17. For the sake of filming scenes for the episode “Revenge of the Sith,” the film crew had to go to the city of Guilin, where the homeland of the Wookiee people, the planet Kashyyyk, is shown among the limestone rocks.

18. Landscapes of the Thai island also appear in scenes of the saga. Once again, Star Wars meets the James Bond saga as Phuket's picturesque landscapes were captured during the filming of The Man with the Golden Gun.

19. Another location common to Bond and Star Wars - Swiss ski resort(Grindelwald), which became the backdrop of the planet Alderaan, the home of Princess Leia.

20. Last on the list of Star Wars filming locations is the Whippendell Woods in the English town of Watford. It is here that one of the most despised characters in the history of cinema, Jar Jar Binks, makes his first appearance.

[:RU]Tunisian city of Degesh ( Degache) became for us the starting point for our journey to the filming location of the legendary “Star Wars” by George Lucas. Here we had to transfer from comfortable buses to equally comfortable all-wheel drive Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps and go on an unforgettable jeep safari across the Sahara.

Degesh is a small town of seven thousand in the traditional North African style. Nondescript squat sandstone houses, very dusty half-empty streets and extremely sparse vegetation. There is absolutely nothing to photograph here, so I’ll immediately move on to the story about the jeep safari.

The first part of the Tunisian safari is a high-speed race in closed jeeps along a section of the route of the famous transcontinental Dakar rally marathon.

Rushing through the rocky part of the Sahara - the most majestic desert on Earth at a speed of 120-140 km/h, you involuntarily feel like the smallest grain of sand in the world, where besides you there is only the infinity of the horizon, sand and the fearless driver of the jeep to whom we entrusted our lives. Extreme overtaking of neighboring cars and sharp turns at high speed are sometimes really scary.

In addition, it happens that the jeep shakes quite a bit on uneven roads and you have to hold on to everything you can. In some places the car does not drive along a track well-worn by time, but along a road that exists solely in the driver’s head. Distances between jeeps can reach up to a kilometer, and the driver does not use any map or navigator.

The second part of the safari is no less extreme than the first. The relatively flat surface of the desert ended... All kinds of hills, hummocks, holes, sand dunes, etc. began.

Without slowing down, the jeep flies up a huge hill and makes a sharp turn. The tilt angle of the car is already close to critical, but the jeep still maintains its balance. The adrenaline level is off the charts...

From the city of Degesh we have already moved 30 kilometers deep into the desert. Suddenly a huge sand dune appeared in front of us. The thought arises in your head that you can either fly over it in a helicopter or try to go around it. However, the driver has his own opinion on this matter... The jeep accelerates, and we take off at 45 degrees onto a sand dune. It is not possible to overcome the obstacle the first time; the car gets stuck in the sand and skids. It’s not possible to force the obstacle the second, third, fourth, fifth time... On the sixth or seventh time, we finally, slowly but surely, climb to the top of the dune.

Opens from the dune beautiful panorama to desert landscapes and the main purpose of our trip - the scenery for the movie "Star Wars". A minute of balancing on the crest of a dune, a shift in the center of gravity... and now the car is rushing down almost vertically, to the screams of passengers in the cabin.

Welcome to the planet Tatooine! Before, I could never believe that I would be able to visit the places where my favorite characters from the famous fantasy saga walked. Even though today it’s just cinematic scenery and crowds of tourists, the feeling of unity with the place and the characters of the film is indescribable and amazing! I'll tell you how it all began...

A long time ago, in the summer of 1976, a delegation of 130 filmmakers arrived in Tunisia, led by director George Lucas ( George Lucas). It was this North African country, with its cosmic landscapes, that was perfectly suited for filming the desert planet Tatooine, where Anakin Skywalker was born ( Anakin Skywalker) – future Darth Vader ( Darth Vader). His son Luke also grew up here.

The planet was named after a real city in Tunisia - Foum Tataouine ( Foum Tataouine), which Tunisians call nothing other than Tatooine. The town is famous for its ksars - fortified clay Berber granaries). The most famous of which are Ksar Ouled Sultan ( Ksar Ouled Soltane) and Ksar Hadada ( Ksar Hadada). It was Ksar Hadada that became the city quarter hometown Anakina – Mos Espa ( Mos Espa) in certain episodes of Star Wars. Episode I: The Phantom Menace."

Filming went on as usual until a crowd of people, strange equipment and robots near the Libyan border caused concern among the authorities neighboring country. Lucas' film crew was asked to urgently move away from the border deep into Tunisia...

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to Tatooine, so let’s return to the scenery of Mos Eisley ( Mos Eisley) in a desert.

They are located 15 kilometers from the Algerian border, on the outskirts of the Chott el Garza salt marsh ( Chott el Gharsa), in the desert between the settlements of Nefta ( Naftah) and Degesh ( Degache), from where we left in jeeps.

The town was built from clay and sand over short term at 2 months. 36 years have passed, and the buildings look like new, thanks to the hot climate and lack of precipitation.

To get pictures of the scenery without tourists in the frame, I had to stand in one place for up to 15 minutes, waiting for the right moment. The presence of tourists inevitably attracts traders here with all sorts of small trinkets (stone roses, bracelets, beads), where they come from neighboring settlements on motorcycles. It's sad that you can't find a single souvenir here that would be related to the Star Wars universe. The sale of souvenirs of similar themes is a goldmine for Tunisia, but apparently this is not interesting to either the Tunisian authorities or the corporation Lucasfilm. In addition, the distance of this place from residential settlements incurs certain costs for protection and maintenance.

Some traders offer a well-known scam for tourists in Tunisia - to take a souvenir photo with the desert fox - fennec. And the price doesn’t seem expensive - only 1 dinar. Everything would be fine, but when the paying tourist took a photo, he, unexpectedly for himself, finds out that he meant “1 dinar for each of the crowd”... It is useless to argue... Be careful.

By the way, I recommend that everyone who wants to visit this place visit Tunisia in the very next few years, since this town may soon disappear forever. The fact is that, every year, a large sand dune is getting closer and closer to the scenery... Currently, it has already gotten close to the walls of the outer buildings. If some measures are not taken, it may happen that in a few years the scenery will be buried under tons of sand...

Not far from this place, on a neighboring dune, there is another memorable point - the site of the battle of the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn ( Qui-Gon Jinn) and Sith Lord Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. The famous car race from the first episode was filmed nearby.

If we talk about the remaining Star Wars filming locations in Tunisia, the list includes the following objects:

Sidi Bouhlel Canyon ( Star Wars Canyon), 91 kilometers long, located east of the city of Degesh, in the mountainous part of Tunisia (mountains Jbel Bou Helal).

Most of the Tatooine landscape scenes were filmed here (in Episode IV of the saga), as well as the location of the sandcrawler for mining - a giant tracked mechanism in which the Jawas traveled across the sands of Tatooine in search of lost droids. Here the Jawas attacked Luke and the robots R2-D2 and C-3PO.

The next place is Luc's house, currently known as the Sidi Driss Hotel ( Hotel Sidi Driss) in the Berber city of Matmata ( Matmata). This town is famous for its underground dwellings dug into solid ground. The hotel still retains the cosmic atmosphere of 36 years ago. Staying here for a Star Wars fan is truly a blessing.

We visited Matmata and, of course, visited one of the underground dwellings of the Berbers, although not the Sidi Driss Hotel, but still... A separate photo report will be published about this city later.

To the west of the oasis city of Nefta there is another Star Wars attraction - the lonely house of the Lars farm, standing in the middle of the desert. You can visit it by taking a local “taxi” in Nefta or renting a car.

The most remote location for filming Star Wars was the Tunisian island of Djerba, on which the house of old Obi-Wan Kenobi is located, and some houses served as the scenery for the large Tatooine city of Anchorhead.

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope was released on May 25, 1977, and Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released on May 19, 1999. The space saga consists of 6 episodes and the 7th part is currently being filmed.

Actor Mark Richard Hamill ( Mark Richard Hamill), better known as Luke Skywalker, once said: " I didn't even have to imagine that I was on Tatooine. I actually WAS on Tatooine". Well, I will join his words.

There are more than two dozen filming locations for the Star Wars saga in Tunisia. Most of them appeared only in episodes as landscapes of the fantastic desert planet Tatooine; they are of no interest to ordinary tourists (not fans).

In the first part of this article we will talk about the five most interesting places filming In the second part we will talk about which of them you can look at organized excursions, and where you will have to go on your own.

1. Matmata, Sidi Driss Hotel

The Tunisian town of Matmata is famous for the underground houses of the Berbers. In one of these underground houses, the filming of “Episode 4: A New Hope” took place in 1976. The Sidi Driss Hotel, set up in several Berber underground houses in 1969 (7 years before filming), was chosen for the filming location.

Scenes were filmed here in the house of Lars Owen, Luke Skywalker's adoptive uncle. After filming, the hotel owner got rid of some of the scenery; at that time the film had not yet become ultra-popular, and there was no real value in these decorations.

In 1995, a French Star Wars fan named Philippe Vanney restored almost the entire set. Now the hotel is operational, you can book a room there, prices are affordable - from $25 per night.

In 2002, scenes from “Episode 2: Attack of the Clones” were filmed here. How did all the staff fit in here? It’s hard to imagine, because the film crew consisted of 250-300 people.

Obi Wan's Cabin and is located 2.5 kilometers north of the Adjima pier. Ask the taxi driver to drive along the road along the coast to the north, look carefully to the left, don’t miss the white house (see photo next to it, click on the photo to enlarge).

Cantina in Mos Eisley(smugglers bar) is located in the very center of Ajim. This building is now in poor condition. It's difficult to find; there are no good landmarks around. You can either hope that the taxi driver will know its location, or use the mobile Internet and Google Maps, the house is marked on this map.

George Lucas' world-famous Star Wars saga was filmed in various locations in Tunisia. The Martian desert landscapes of this country became the ideal setting for the fantastic plot of the film. Even the distant planet Tatooine from the legendary film epic was named after a small town in the south of Tunisia. A troglodyte village Matmata ideal for filming a number of scenes. Here, in the home of Luke Skywalker, you can even stay overnight at the Sidi Driss Hotel.

Hotel Sidi Driss, where many scenes from the movie "Star Wars" were filmed

At the Sidi Driss Hotel, Matmata, Tunisia

The Sidi Driss Hotel served as the setting for the famous film epic “Star Wars”.

The village of Matmata takes its name from the Berber tribe of the same name that inhabited local regions. Traditionally, the inhabitants of these places built their homes in man-made caves in order to thus escape from the drying heat of the desert. First, a huge hole was dug, 8-13 meters in diameter and about 7-10 meters deep. Then, along the perimeter of this pit, resembling a crater, living quarters, storerooms, and kitchens were dug into the ground. A well was often dug in the center of the pit. It was possible to get into such a “house” from above only by going down a ladder - hollowed out in the ground or rope.

Underground dwelling in Matmata, Tunisia

From above, the troglodyte village looks like a cratered lunar landscape.

In 1967, heavy rainfalls that lasted about 2 weeks (extremely rare natural phenomenon in the Sahara Desert!), led to the flooding and damage of a large number of cave houses. Local authorities organized assistance to the affected residents and hastily built ordinary above-ground houses for them near the damaged underground village. However, many families still prefer traditional cave dwellings to modern ones. The reason for this is obvious - in the dungeons the temperature remains at approximately the same level in both heat and cold. But modern buildings are not so good at saving their inhabitants from the scorching heat of the desert during the day and the piercing cold at night.

Interior of a Tunisian Berber dugout house

Kitchen in the troglodyte house

With the growth of tourism, many troglodyte houses have opened to the public, thus bringing additional income to their owners. And one of them has even been transformed into the Sidi Driss Hotel - a unique place for those who crave new experiences.

Hotel Sidi Driss became famous throughout the world as Lars's farm in episodes 1 and 4 of the Star Wars film saga.

Spartan interior of cave hotel rooms

Bar of the cave hotel Sidi Driss

Dining room at the Sidi Driss Hotel

Star Wars fans will be especially delighted by this place; everything about the Sidi Driss Hotel is reminiscent of the filming that came here. Everywhere you can find parts of abandoned surroundings and decorations. Lars farms, where Luke Skywalker spent his childhood. The interiors are easily recognizable to fans of the legendary film.

The views of the hotel are easily recognizable in the footage from the Star Wars movie

As one example, the place of feasts for the family of a brave Jedi, through the passage from the dining room you can get to Aunt Beru’s kitchen:

A still from the film of the Star Wars saga - a scene of a family feast in the dining room of the Lars farm

The interior of the Lars family's dining room remained unchanged after filming took place here.

The mural on the ceiling of the dining room was restored in 1995 by the French artist Philippe Vanney, an ardent fan of the epic film.

Ceiling painting in the dining room, perfectly restored by one of the film's enthusiasts

According to the plot of the film, the planet Tatooine suffered from the searing heat. Lars's farm produced moisture that was so valuable in these places. All farm premises were located underground. There were living and utility rooms, security terminals, sensors, capacitors, a garage with fantastic vehicles future. IN different places moisture traps were placed on the farms.

The Lars family's moisture farm from Star Wars

Lars farm plan - in modern times Hotel Sidi Driss

The Sidi Driss Hotel in Matmata served as the backdrop for two parts of the film epic - Episode IV A New Hope in 1977 and Episode II Attack of the Clones in 2000. At the instigation of the film's director, George Lucas, the desert lands of the Sahara turned into a fantastic world of distant galaxies. Who would have thought back in 1977 that the first film would be such a dizzying success, and the south of Tunisia would become a real place of pilgrimage for fans of this space saga! Today, in the places where Star Wars was filmed, they are organizing tourist excursions. A local residents They sell souvenirs to visitors and offer to take pictures in Jedi cloaks and swords.

The unusual architecture of the Berber granaries-ksars, as conceived by the film director, became an ideal setting for the slave quarter

The mesmerizing views of Tunisia look no less mysterious even with only one sun - a still from the movie “Star Wars” and a modern photo from the shooting location

In addition to Star Wars, other films were filmed in the desert spaces of Tunisia, among the most famous: Gladiator, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, The English Patient. The mysterious landscapes of southern Tunisia never cease to attract the attention of directors. It is difficult to imagine that this surreal place, which rather resembles the landscapes of distant and unexplored galaxies, is quite real and is part of ours, so amazing and diverse planet Earth.

The desert landscapes of Tatooine with the scenery left behind after filming make the image of distant planets so real and tangible

Photo sources: www.hotel-sidi-driss.com, www.voyage-insolite.com, www.thankyouforbeingsophisticated.com, commons.wikimedia.org, fiveadventurers.com, perspectivesbyairfrance.com, thisisafrica.me, www.pbase.com , www.flickr.com, www.shutterstock.com.

Hotel cost

The cave hotel Sidi Driss has only 20 rooms. All rooms are very simple, with a minimum of amenities and an ascetic interior. The hotel also has communal showers and toilets, a restaurant, a bar and even wi-fi internet. There are no ATMs in the surrounding area; the nearest town of Gabes is 40 km away.

Accommodation with breakfast will cost approximately 15 € per person per day, with breakfast and dinner - 20 €. The food is focused on local cuisine with plenty of traditional dishes from couscous.

The low season, when the number of tourists in the area is minimal, is from November to March.

Video

Location

Hotel Sidi Driss
Address: Matmata Ancienne, Matmata, Tunisia
Facebook Page: Hotel Sidi Idriss
[email protected]

We have already told you how unusual and exciting this country is. Many lovers of unusual landscapes come here for a new exciting shot on a photo or video camera. The film crew of the Star Wars saga really liked the unreal views of the country. And Tunisians are now making good money from this by organizing excursions to the locations of the film saga.
The main "centers" of the film are

• town of Matmata,
• the vicinity of the salt lake Chott el-Jerid,
• the city of Tatooine (or Tatavim),
• surroundings of the town of Nefta,
• Djerba island
• resort Ung Yemel.

Matmata.
There is a small town called Matmata in the very south of Tunisia, on the border with the Sahara Desert. At one time, local residents - troglodyte Berbers (such a tribe) - hid here, fleeing Muslim repression. There is little building material in this region and therefore they built (or rather dug) houses in the soft soils of the area. This is how unusual and colorful cave cities Berbers. They still live in them to this day. It was these unusual buildings that the “Wars” film crew liked so much.
In the city of Matmata (Tunisia), The Sidi Driss Hotel even hosted the hero of the film Luke Skywalker. According to the script, this hotel was his home in the Star Wars films. Episode IV: A New Hope." and Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones."
Now many admirers of the saga come to see the real house of their beloved hero.
Tatooine.
Next and no less iconic place The city of Tatooine is on the pilgrimage for Star Wars. The town is small, it became famous only thanks to the “Wars”.

Its surroundings impressed the director and screenwriter of the saga, George Lucas, so much that he even named the planet where Luke Skywalker was born and grew up.
Salt lake Chott el Djerid.
In the area between the desert and the lake, there were many points in different places where views of the Mos-Epa spaceport were filmed. This is where Qui-Gon Jinn met Anakin Skywalker (“Episode I: The Phantom Menace”). If you’re lucky, you can even admire the unusual sunset captured in the film and take photographs in the “houses” of the residents of this city.
Oil
This town is located 15 kilometers from the border with Algeria. General views of the “star” city where the future Jedi lived were filmed here. The scenery in the dry climate of Tunisia has been preserved quite well since filming. Just getting there is quite problematic. Organized group excursions in Neft they do not carry out. The only options to get there are to go yourself (which is quite dangerous given the current situation in the country), or to hire a guide (which will cost a pretty penny).
Mos Eisley.
Another town in Tunisia, located in the Sahara itself. Due to its ethereal desert landscapes, it fits well with the overall Star Wars theme.
You can only get here by four-wheel drive powerful jeeps. At the same time they will give you a ride with the breeze
By sand dunes deserts.
Before traveling to Tunisia, watch the entire Star Wars saga again, and then enthusiastically walk through the “places of glory” of the epic. You will get a sea of ​​unforgettable emotions!
Excursions can be purchased from any excursion companies in Tunisia, they are called that: excursions to the filming locations of Star Wars. As an addition to the tours, you can be offered exciting trips across the Sahara on camels or jeeps, sightseeing tours to other nearby attractions. As a result, you can enjoy not only the scenery for the film, but also get to know this amazing country.
Tunisia has such fantastic natural scenery that it wasn't just George Lucas who was seduced by it. People came to the country to film The English Patient, Gladiator, Indiana Jones and many other films.