Hollywood’s new favourite playground Part 2

There are endless filming opportunities in Namibia and filmmakers from Hollywood and the rest of the world are beginning to take notice.

Namibia has unique landscapes and towns that translate well onto the silver screen. The Land of the Brave has hosted various movie, TV and documentary productions over the years. Apart from the dunes of the Namib Desert or the alien-looking Moon Landscape, there are many other beautiful shooting locations to pick from.

Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Tom Cruise, Charlize Theron, Forest Whitaker and many other household names have spent time filming in Namibia. Apart from international productions, Namibia has also been home to awardwinning local productions.

Katutura, Baxu and the Giants and The White Line are just a few local productions that have garnered international attention. These films had premieres at various international film festivals. Join us as we take a look at some of the wonderful film locations in Namibia over the next few months.

Windhoek

Namibia’s capital city might not seem like the obvious choice to shoot a film, as it usually gets overlooked for Swakopmund or the coast in general. Nevertheless, Windhoek has been the stage for various local and international productions.

Recently the local movie Kapana has been making waves and it incorporates local culture into the story. Other local productions like Katutura also put the city on the forefront. Through this movie local and international audiences got to see what life is like in the townships.

Windhoek has also played an important role in some international productions. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard

Hammond and James May, stars of The Grand Tour, shot part of their show in the capital.

The trio, best known for their time on the motoring show Top Gear, decided to launch their new show in Namibia back in 2016. Their presence in Windhoek caused a lot of buzz as they were staying in one of the city’s hotels.

Swakopmund

The country’s most well-known gem is also the one town that attracts productions from across the globe. Swakopmund has hosted numerous film and TV crews, and that is not even including its surrounding areas like the Namib and the Moon Landscape. The Grand Tour also filmed a few scenes here in town.

Swakopmund became a hot location for filmmakers back in the 1970s. One of the first productions in the coastal town starred well-known Italian actor, Bud Spencer. Spencer shot the 1978 movie Piedone I’africano (Flatfoot in Africa) in Swakopmund.

This led to interest from Hollywood filmmakers during the 1980s. Productions that took place in Swakopmund include Alien from L.A. starring Kathy Ireland, Red Scorpion starring Dolph Lundgren and Laser Mission starring Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon Lee.

One of the coastal town’s biggest productions, The Prisoner, was shot in 2008. Ian McKellen, known for his role as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings , and Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ , starred in the show. Shooting took place over a period of 18 weeks, both inside and outside of town.

Next month we continue to explore the beauty of Namibia and how it attracts big-budget film and television crews from across the globe.

Barry de Klerk