Filmmakers Love Tunisia

This is Maria Filatova. She's from Russia. I met her tonight at a friend's house party. Rather than make small talk about St. Petersburg or Moscow, she couldn't wait to talk to me about her favorite country on the planet, Tunisia.

When I got confirmation I'd be working in Tunisia yesterday, I sprang from my bed like a kid on Christmas morning. "Finally, a country in Northern Africa!" I cheered. Then I broke out my globe and stabbed Tunisia with a thumbtack and reached for my passport. Anti-Western sentiment or not I'm on my way this May.

It just so happens that Filatova vacations in Tunisia almost every year and had plenty of stories to share. It was just what I needed to hear. "You'll not find a bluer ocean or whiter sand or nicer people" she described. "And, don't forget to visit the oasis town of Medenine where Star Wars was shot" she said.

George Lucas loves Tunisia too, since 1971 he's filmed every one of his Star Wars movies here. Anthony Minghella, director of The English Patient used Tunisia for the desert scenes and a mock-up of wartime Cairo. Steven Spielberg used it for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Roman Polanski filmed Pirates there. Monty Python's Life of Brian used it as a backdrop for the Holy Land.