While much of modern moviemaking takes place on sound stages and inside powerful computers, some films are still films shot onsite using elaborate sets. Take the home of Anakin Skywalker in "The Phantom Menace." That fictional desert community known as Mos Espa was created in the Tunisian desert in an area called Ong Jmel. As we reported last year, scientists have for years tracked the movement of sand dunes that are threatening to engulf a site that's become something of magnet for geeks everywhere.

As proof of the site's popularity, in a nearby section of the desert known as Chott el Gharsa, an independent group raised funds and restored Luke Skywalker's fictional home in 2012.

Now the Tunisian tourism ministry is getting on the "Save Mos Espa" bandwagon (or should I say, landspeeder?) with a campaign aimed at preserving this integral part of sci-fi history. It's looking to raise 300,000 Tunisian dinars (about $189,000) to keep the Mos Espa from being swallowed by the desert like a sarlacc swallowing a ne'er-do-well bounty hunter.

As part of that campaign, the NGO CDTOS (Tourism Chamber for the Oasis and Sahara regions) has set up an Indiegogo drive to raise $45,000. Donations are available in denominations of $25, $100, and $1,000, which earn you the titles of Padawan, Jedi, and Master Jedi respectively. Master Jedis will also have their name engraved on a "special commemorative panel" near the site.

http://www.cnet.com/news/help-tunisia-save-a-piece-of-star-wars-history/

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-mos-espa