Ong Jemel outcrop
OVERVIEW
Site: Ong Jemel outcrop area
GPS: 34.015937, 7.912498
Location: Chott el-Gharsa salt flats (Tozeur Governorate) / Southwest Tunisia
Description: Meteorized rock zooform (Neogene Period)
Star Wars film: Episode I
Set construction start: Early August 1997
Production: Early August 1997
Star Wars locations | Film sets:
Mos Espa podrace circuit | Canyon Dune Turn
Mospic High Range | Sith landing desert mesa
Lead on set:
Ray Park / Darth Maul
Scenes:
84 [Darth Maul lands on desert mesa at dusk] — Filmed: 5 August 1997
108 [Darth Maul follows probe droid to Mos Espa] — Filmed: 5 August 1997
Final cut: 2
Deleted: 0
Sequences:
Tusken Raider sniper point #4 (podrace / lap 1)
Jawas scavenge at crash site (podrace / lap 2) <deleted>
Final cut: 1
Deleted: 1
Camel: No images of the north/northwest side of the outcrop—the best vantage point from which to view the formations loosely resembling the “camel’s neck” namesake of the zooform—are featured in the film.
Accessibility: Easy; desert/salt flats terrain; hard-packed sand roads; 4×4 vehicle advantageous, but not necessary; impeded by heavy rainfall; unrestricted parking surrounding the site; short low-impact hike required to climb outcrop and adjacent mesa.
Eriguet dunes
(yardang field)
OVERVIEW
Site: Eriguet dune system
GPS: 33.994671, 7.848898
Location: Dune landscape south of Chott el-Gharsa (Tozeur Governorate) / Southwest Tunisia
Description: Salt-saturated barchanoid dunes (quartz/gypsum sands)
Star Wars film: Episode I
Set construction start: Early May 1997
Production: Late July to early August 1997
Star Wars locations | Film sets:
Mos Espa | slave quarters backyards
Xelric Draw | Mos Espa outskirts
Xelric Draw | Naboo spacecraft (ramp)
Leads on set:
Liam Neeson / Qui-Gon Jinn
Jake Lloyd / Anakin Skywalker
Natalie Portman / Padmé Amidala Naberrie
Ewan McGregor / Obi-Wan Kenobi
Hugh Quarshie / Captain Panaka (Legends: Quarsh Panaka)
Dhruv Chanchani / Kitster (Legends: Kitster Chanchani Banai)
Ray Park / Darth Maul
Kenny Baker / R2-D2
Ahmed Best / Jar Jar Binks
Oliver Walpole / Seek
Katie Lucas / Amee
Megan Udall / Melee
Warwick Davis / Wald
Scenes:
60 [They trek across the desert, Padmé joins the group] — Filmed: 30 July 1997
66 [They find a quiet spot & consider a solution] <replaced> — Filmed: 30 July 1997
68 [“This storm will slow them down”] — Filmed: 30 July 1997
80 [“There’s something about this boy”] <replaced> — Filmed: 30 July 1997
81 [Qui-Gon and Shmi on porch discuss Anakin] — Filmed: 4 August 1997
82 [The pod rises, the engines ignite] — Filmed: 4 August 1997
86 [Dawn before the race] <deleted> — Filmed: 6-7 August 1997
103 [They return with the hyperdrive] — Filmed: 30 July 1997
110 [Darth Maul attacks on his speeder] — Filmed: 31 July, 8 August 1997
113 [Qui-Gon and Darth Maul continue their sword battle] — Filmed: 31 July, 8 August 1997
114 [Maul leaps up and falls back to the desert floor] — Filmed: 31 July 1997
Final cut: 8
Deleted: 1
Replaced: 2
Historic: First-ever Star Wars franchise lightsaber duel filmed on location.
Undercover: Small team of German journalists representing Cinema Zeitschrift acquired unsanctioned aerial photographs from a hot-air balloon in early August 1997 of Episode I filming activity, providing unique primary source locational documentation for the Eriguet dunes film sites.
Yardang fields: Although groupings of uniquely shaped windblown sand formations (yardangs) populate assorted pockets of the Tunisian Eriguet dunes landscape, only one yardang field is featured in Star Wars prequels footage.
Template: Architectural elements distinct to the film site area (northwest corner) of Ksar Hadada, located circa 250 km to the southeast, were used as the template to construct a disjointed Mos Espa slave quarters backyards film set (porch and courtyard) in the northern perimeter of the yardang field film site.
Small set: Mos Espa slave quarters backyards film set, buried since circa 2004, is also known as the “Mos Espa small set” in comparison to the preserved Mos Espa film set (“Mos Espa large set”) situated approximately 600 meters to the southwest beyond a prominent barchanoid dune.
Accessibility: Easy; desert terrain; hard-packed sand roads; dilapidated Mos Espa small set intermittently buried by sand; 4×4 vehicle advantageous, but not necessary; impeded by heavy rainfall; unrestricted parking.
Chott el-Djerid
OVERVIEW
Site: Chott el-Djerid (northwest sector)
GPS: 33.842831, 7.779026
Location: Salt flats between the Kebili and Tozeur governorates / Southwest Tunisia
Description: Saline dry lake (ca. 5900 km²), largest in the Sahara
Star Wars films: Episode IV / Episode II / Episode III
Set construction start: Mid-February 1976 / early August 2000 / early August 2000
Production: 22-23, 25, 29 March 1976 / 7, 9 September 2000 / 7 September 2000
Star Wars location | Film set: Great Chott Salt Flats | Lars Homestead (exterior)
Leads on set: Episode IV
Mark Hamill / Luke Skywalker
Phil Brown / Owen Lars
Anthony Daniels / See Threepio (C-3PO)
Kenny Baker / Artoo Detoo (R2-D2)
Jack Purvis / head Jawa (Legends: Dathcha)
Leads on set: Episode II
Hayden Christensen / Anakin Skywalker
Natalie Portman / Padmé Amidala Naberrie
Anthony Daniels / See Threepio (C-3PO)
Jack Thompson / Cliegg Lars
Joel Edgerton / Owen Lars
Bonnie Maree Piesse / Beru Whitesun
Leads on set: Episode III
Joel Edgerton / Owen Lars
Scenes: Episode IV
3 [Luke in wasteland with droid that malfunctions] <deleted> — Filmed: 25, 29 March 1976
26 [Purchase of C-3PO and R2-D2] — Filmed: 22-23, 25 March 1976
29 [Luke and giant twin suns] — Filmed: 29 March 1976
B29 [Luke and C-3PO rush out of homestead to look for R2-D2] — Filmed: 22, 29 March 1976
C42 [Luke discovers dead aunt and uncle] — Filmed: 25 March 1976
Final cut: 4
Deleted: 1
Scenes: Episode II
88 [They land near the homestead] — Filmed: 9 September 2000
89 [C-3PO greets Anakin and Padmé] — Filmed: 9 September 2000
90 [Anakin meets the Lars family] — Filmed: 9 September 2000
93 [Anakin takes off on Owen’s speeder bike] — Filmed: 9 September 2000
97 [Anakin talks to the Jawas] <replaced> — Filmed: 7 September 2000
98 [Anakin finds the bodies of the search party] <deleted> — Filmed: 7 September 2000
100 [Night animal howls near homestead] <deleted> — Filmed: 7 September 2000
115 [Beru draws water] <deleted> — Filmed: 9 September 2000
117 [Anakin returns with Shmi] — Filmed: 9 September 2000
131 [The funeral of Shmi] — Filmed: 9 September 2000
133 [Lars family waves goodbye] <deleted> – Filmed: 9 September 2000
Final cut: 6
Deleted: 4
Replaced: 1
Scene: Episode III
180 [Obi-Wan hands baby to Owen Lars] <replaced> — Filmed: 7 September 2000
Final cut: 0
Replaced: 1
Historic: First-ever Star Wars franchise filming location.
Starkiller: At the point of filming Mark Hamill’s introductory scenes on the salt flats, his heroic character was named “Luke Starkiller” (shooting script).
Sunset: After at least three failed attempts, the original iconic “binary” sunset over the salt flats was filmed with a cloudless light purple skyline shortly before sunset at 18:47 on 29 March 1976.
Blueprint: Three-pit layout of the Lars Homestead exterior set on the salt flats loosely mirrors the spatial proximity of pits 1-3 at Hotel Sidi Idriss (Matmata al-Qadimal), located 265 km to the east.
Record: Only film site in Tunisia featured in three Star Wars franchise films.
Overlap: Only live-action (with actors) non-studio Episode III filming location, utilized on the first day of Episode II filming in Tunisia, 34 months before the start of Episode III principal photography.
Tandem: George Lucas and Anthony Daniels were the only cast/crew members present on Chott el-Djerid for production activity across all three films.
Preservation: Homestead dome has been built/rebuilt on six separate occasions spanning from 1976 to 2022.
Accessibility: Easy; salt flats terrain; paved roads lead to salt flats turn-off point (33.866280, 7.780087); 4×4 vehicle advantageous, but not necessary; impeded by heavy rainfall; unrestricted parking surrounding the site.
