Mos Espa

Mos Espa

Mos Espa is a town on Tatooine, from “Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace”, where Anakin was found. The scenes were filmed on a set that was built in the Chott el-Gharsa. The Chott el-Gharsa is a large salt lake north-west of Tozeur, Tunisia.

These sand dunes on the Chott el-Gharsa were where scenes from The English Patient were filmed.

Ong Jemal (Neck of the Camel) is a sand dune shaped like a camel.

Hidden behind some dunes…

…lies the set of Mos Espa (although the locals simply call it “The Star Wars”).

These buildings are simply built using wooden frames and fencing wire, covered in mud/plaster. Their interiors wern’t filmed, so they don’t look very good from the inside. Some of them don’t even have roofs.

Product placement in a Star Wars movie by Kodak.

Product placement in a Star Wars movie by Hover.

In additional to the large Mos Espa set, there is a small set built nearby. However, by February 2007, it was mostly covered by the moving sand dunes. In fact, I’ve been told by Colin that they are actually emerging from the sand dunes, because it was more covered back in 2003. Maybe one day they will be totally uncovered again.

This is the scene in front of the small set. It looks like the backdrop of where the Naboo ship landed on Tatooine in Episode I.