Tunisia set rebuilding
The Star Wars sets in Tunisia are being rebuilt. It seems most likely that it is being done solely for tourism purposes but its still nice to see that they aren't going to allow the locations to be swallowed by the desert.
In an article in L'Expression by Abdelkrim Gabous last December - Le Sud, Hollywood du Maghreb
Plus see scans of the original article with larger photos - Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4
The original article is in French but you can see a rough English translation here.
Today, the settings are being restored by their own builder, Tayeb Jallouli, with the same workers.
In another article in The National by Suleman Din he mentions coming across workers at the Mos Espa set on a recent trip. - Star Wars nostalgia in southern Tunisia
The surprise for us, though, was that we found it bustling with activity. A number of labourers were renovating, repainting and building new buildings. Ironically, the effort to build these alien structures was done in a very human way; one man applied plaster with his bare hands, others sat and smoked in the shade of an alien hall.
One worker who spoke English, Farouk Ben Ibrahim, came forward to explain. Renovations began back in December, he said, after an Italian film producer contracted locals. "He gives us money, and we fix it," Ibrahim said. "He said there is another part of Star Wars filming here. In the summer, maybe."
