Ksar Ommarsia
OVERVIEW
Site: Ksar Ommarsia
GPS: 33.347444, 10.492121
Location: Médenine city center (Médenine Governorate) / Southeast Tunisia
Description: Amazigh fortified granary (early 19th century CE)
Star Wars film:
Episode I — The Phantom Menace (1999)
Set construction start: Early July 1997
Production: 9 August 1997
Star Wars location | Film sets:
Mos Espa | Anakin Skywalker’s hovel (exterior)
Mos Espa | slave quarters street
Leads on set:
Liam Neeson / Qui-Gon Jinn
Jake Lloyd / Anakin Skywalker
Natalie Portman / Padmé Amidala Naberrie
Pernilla August / Shmi Skywalker
Dhruv Chanchani / Kitster (Legends: Kitster Chanchani Banai)
Warwick Davis / Wald
Scenes:
70 [They seek shelter from the sandstorm] — Filmed: 9 August 1997
104 [Anakin fights with Greedo] <deleted> — Filmed: 9 August 1997
107 [Anakin leaves Shmi and does not look back] — Filmed: 9 August 1997
Final cut: 2
Deleted: 1
Composited background ksar footage: 4 scenes
82 [The pod rises, the engines ignite] — Scene film site: Eriguet dunes | yardang field | Mos Espa slave quarters backyards set
88 [Probe droid searches] — Scene film site: Eriguet dunes | Mos Espa marketplace set
104 [Anakin fights with Greedo] <deleted> — Scene film site: Ksar Ommarsia
107 [Anakin leaves Shmi and does not look back] — Scene film site: Ksar Ommarsia
Ksour hub: Once home to the largest concentration of ksar architecture in Tunisia with approximately 25 ksour, Ksar Ommarsia and two adjacent ksour (Ksar Ouled Brahim and Ksar Lobbeira) are the only three remaining fortified granaries in the Médenine city center.
Pedestrian zone: The narrow ksar courtyard, a main walkway through the city center, is populated with roughly 120 ghorfas stacked up to three stories high and over 40 curvilinear concrete stairs leading to the upper-level storage chambers.
Historic: First-ever Star Wars franchise filming at a Tunisian ksar.
Decor: Crew covered the ksar courtyard stone floor with sand to depict the desert Tatooine climate, complementing the stand-alone moisture vaporator and extensive ghorfa set dressings removed after filming.
Background architecture: Post-production efforts utilized segmented plate content of three Ksar Ommarsia walls to create Mos Espa cityscape architecture in four of the five Episode I scenes containing composited background ksar footage.
Accessibility: Very easy; flat terrain; paved roads; street parking area (33.346872, 10.492660) directly off of Avenue 7 Novembre (C108) in front of the southeast wall of Ksar Ouled Brahim.
Ksar Hadada
OVERVIEW
Site: Ksar Hadada (northwest corner area)
GPS: 33.100502, 10.313744
Location: Ksar Hadada village center (Tataouine Governorate) / Southeast Tunisia
Description: Amazigh fortified granary village (mid-19th century CE)
Repurposed: Hotel Ksar Hadada
Star Wars film:
Episode I — The Phantom Menace (1999)
Set construction start: Early July 1997
Production: 10 August 1997
Star Wars location | Film sets:
Mos Espa | slave quarters backyards
Mos Espa | slave quarters street
Leads on set:
Liam Neeson / Qui-Gon Jinn
Natalie Portman / Padmé Amidala Naberrie
Pernilla August / Shmi Skywalker
Scenes:
80 [“There’s something about this boy”] — Filmed: 10 August 1997
81 [Qui-Gon and Shmi on porch discuss Anakin] — Filmed: 10 August 1997
A82 [Shmi standing alone on porch] — Filmed: 10 August 1997
85 [Padmé exits hovel at sunrise] <deleted> — Filmed: 10 August 1997
Final cut: 3
Deleted: 1
Composited background ksar footage: 1 scene
85 [Padmé exits hovel at sunrise] <deleted> — Scene film site: Ksar Hadada
Recce: Only prequels film site in Tunisia to be initially scouted but not utilized for Episode IV. The mid-November 1975 recce explored the then-newly restored northwest corner of the site, presumably as a potential location for unrealized Mos Eisley slums street sequences.
Tataouine: Only Star Wars film site located in the Tunisian region of Tataouine, the orthographic inspiration for renaming the desert planet of Utapau to Tatooine in the Episode IV fourth draft (1 January 1976).
Template: Film site north courtyard—not used for filming—matched with other northwest corner elements replicated to construct the Mos Espa slave quarters backyards set (Mos Espa small set) in the Eriguet dunes north of Nefta (Tozeur Governorate).
Café: Northeast corner of Café Salon de Thé (local business) visible in film footage.
Background architecture: Post-production efforts utilized segmented plate content of the Ksar Hadada northwest corner porch to create Mos Espa cityscape architecture in one of the five Episode I scenes containing composited background ksar footage.
Wrap: Final film site/production date for 1st unit Episode I principal photography in Tunisia.
Accessibility: Very easy; foothills terrain; paved roads; parking area (33.100161, 10.313664) directly at the site entrance.
