Ever watched it and wondered where it was filmed? We’ve tracked down the locations in these great films that all have an African slant.

Safe House

A gritty film starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, filmed in and around Cape Town.

Out of Africa

Beautiful scenes of the Mara and colonial Nairobi, but if you want to picnic like Robert Redford and Meryl Streep did, on that escarpment with that view, then you need to be in precisely this lodge. And if you want to see that yellow bi-plane, you’ll have to stay here.

Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela’s life story showcases many South African locations, notably the Drakensberg Mountains, Cape Town and Soweto townships. It’s particularly poignant when you realise that what you’re seeing on the screen is the real thing – the Transkei Hills where Mandela spent his childhood, Pretoria’s Palace of Justice where he was sentenced and even his actual prison cell on Robben Island – it really is that small, take a boat across when you’re in Cape Town if you want to have a look yourself.

The Constant Gardener

This political thriller was filmed in and around Kibera, a Nairobi slum district and in a remote village on the shores of Lake Turkana in the north of Kenya. These places won’t be top of anyone’s holiday list, but you might like to know that the cast and crew set up the Constant Gardener Trust to provide education to the local children – the power of the silver screen in action.

Gorillas in the Mist

Tissues at the ready folks, this Dian Fossey biopic packs an emotional punch. Head to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda to see for yourselves what Ms Fossey found so captivating about the endangered Mountain Gorillas. Take an extra day too to visit the primatologist’s grave.

A United Kingdom

Another beautiful film that had us reaching for the Kleenex. Many of the African scenes were filmed in Serowe, a large Botswanan village and unlikely to be on your ‘must visit’ list, but you may also spot some scenes filmed on the edge of the Kalahari desert and the Magkadikgadi Pans – now that should be on your ‘must visit’ list!

Africa United

This often funny, often moving film follows three sassy Rwandan children – and assorted others picked up en route – as they trek 3000 miles from their home in Rwanda, through 7 countries to South Africa to see the World Cup. If you haven’t seen it yet, you simply must.

Blood Diamond

So the wonderful Mr DiCaprio’s attempts at a South African accent may slip here and there, but this is otherwise a very challenging film. In it you may well spot Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront and Maputo in Mozambique.

Zulu

A film that surely needs no introduction. We’re not going to pretend that it was filmed on the actual battle site, but we will say go to Fugitives Drift in KwaZulu-Natal and take a guided tour to Rorkes Drift, it’s much more moving than the movie.

Cry Freedom

The Donald Woods/ Steve Biko story may have played out in South Africa but much of it was filmed in Zimbabwe and Kenya as no filming was allowed in South Africa at the time. The beach where the Woods family plan their escape was filmed at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, Steve Biko’s police cell is in Harare and the ‘Soweto’ demonstrations were filmed in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Room for one more? The Lion King was of course filmed in a studio, but based on the Masai Mara, and has given us one of our favourite ever ‘overheard on safari’ quotes –

Child to Mother (while watching lion cubs on safari): "Mummy, when are they going to sing?"