Erfoud ( ber, ⴰⵔⴼⵓⴷ, Latn, ber, Arfud; ar, أرفود) is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, in the

Drâa-Tafilalet Drâa-Tafilalet ( ar, درعة - تافيلالت, darʿa - tāfīlālt; ber, ⴷⵔⴰ ⵜⴰⴼⵉⵍⴰⵍⵜ, drɛa tafilalt) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 88,836 km2 and had a population of 1,635,008 as ...

region, eastern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

. It is divided into several districts: Hay Salam, Hay Jdid, Hay Ziz, Hay el Bathaa, Hay Annahda, and Hay el Hamri. Due to its proximity to

Merzouga Merzouga is a small village in southeastern Morocco, about southeast of Rissani, about from Erfoud and about from the Algerian border. The village is known for its proximity to Erg Chebbi and is a popular destination for tourists. It has bee ...

desert village in the

Erg Chebbi Erg Chebbi ( Berber: ⴻⵔⴳ ⵛⴱⵉ, ar, عرق الشبي) is one of Morocco's several ergs – large seas of dunes formed by wind-blown sand. There are several other ergs such as Erg Chigaga near M'hamid. Technically all these ergs are ...

Dunes, Erfoud has developed tourist-related infrastructures such as hotels and restaurants.

Filming location

Erfoud is a destination for filmmakers due to the beauty of the surrounding Sahara Desert and the town's oasis areas. Erfoud has been a

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew ...

for many films, including: *'' March or Die'' (1977) :In the film archeologists are uncovering an ancient city near Erfoud buried by a sand storm 3,000 years ago. The site is the resting place of a Berber saint, "The Angel of the Desert". *''

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places *Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Pa ...

'' (1999) :Filming began in

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrak ...

, Morocco on May 4, 1998 and lasted 17 weeks. Photography then moved to the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

outside Erfoud. :Production designer Allan Cameron found a dormant

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

near Erfoud where the entire set for

Hamunaptra ''The Mummy'' is a 1999 American action-adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the r ...

could be constructed. *''

Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two games ...

'' (2010) : Mike Newell selected Morocco as a shooting location for the film and also planned to film in

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to ...

. Filming began in July 2008 in Morocco. Eight weeks were spent in Morocco before the first unit moved to Pinewood. *''

SPECTRE Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...

'' (2015) :For the 24th (official)

James Bond film James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

, the nearby

Gara Medouar Gara Medouar, also known as Jebel Mudawwar ("round mountain"), Gara Mdouar or Mdoura, is a horseshoe-shaped geological formation (" erosion cirque") near Sijilmasa, Morocco. In the 11th century it was developed into a fortress with a military gar ...

played the part of an enemy headquarters.

Mars analogue research

This area of Morocco has also been identified as being very similar in appearance and possibly geology to certain areas on the planet Mars. Because of this, there is an interest in this area as a field research location for Mars

analogue research Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds, including the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identifie ...

. In February 2013 the

Austrian Space Forum The Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) is an expert organization in the field of analogue research, which researches how humans can prepare on Earth for astronautical exploration of other planets. Since the AustroMars mission in 2006, OeWF has been involv ...

spent the whole month with a field team including two space suit simulators (

Aouda.X A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, ...

and

Aouda.S A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, ...

) and a number of

rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, U ...

s to conduct a large number of experiments. They were supported by a Mission Support Center run from Innsbruck,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

to simulate a mission to the surface of Mars. The main desert base camp was named ''Camp Weyprecht'' on February 11, with a later satellite camp about 80 km further south being called ''Station

Payer A payer is a person who makes a payment. Payer also may refer to: People *Evariste Payer (1887–1963), Canadian professional hockey player *Chantal Payer (born 1953), Canadian fencer * Helge Payer (born 1979), Austrian international footballer * ...

''.

References

{{Drâa-Tafilalet Populated places in Errachidia Province Oases of Morocco