StarWars The Phantom Menace...
In Star Wars, the planet Tatooine, childhood home of Anakin Skywalker, really exists, but not in a galaxy far, far away, and not on a Hollywood backlot. The mythical planet is in fact southern Tunisia.
The original Star Wars, which has thrilled audiences throughout the world for more than two decades was filmed in Matmata, a small town whose inhabitants live in ingenious underground houses.
In the summer of 1997, George Lucas returned to his Tunisian inspiration, taking his crew to the Tozeur Oasis and the Tataouine hills for another film in the Star Wars trilogy. Lucas built the mud hut village where the Jedi Knights face the Evil Warriors. Sand storms, 100F temperatures, and even a sand shower did not restrain the producer's youthful exuberance. The sand, the sun, the storm," he exclaimed. "It's just like shooting the original!" The new film with its star-studded cast and big budget was released in May 1999.
The English Patient was largely filmed in Tunisia....
The recipient of nine Academy Awards, The English Patient was the most renowned film of 1997. Producer Anthony Minghella's masterpiece won Oscars not only for Best Film and Best Producer, but also for Best Shooting, thus rewarding Tunisia for its superb scenery.
Although the tale of the The English Patient takes place in Egypt, the producers of the film found that the Tunisian cities of Tunis, Mahdia and Sfax more perfectly represented the Cairo of the 1930's.
Two important sequences were filmed in Tunis in a spacious, unoccupied former foreign minister's private residence that was built nearly 150 years ago. The old Tunis house represented British Ambassadors residence in Cairo and the scenes that were filmed there were the formal dinner party and the large Christmas celebration dinner for the British Colony. The house was chosen for the authentic period elements in its Islamic architecture and design, its elegant arches , open courtyard and beautiful ceramic work. |
