Jugol, the walled old town
Five gates, a warren of alleys, and Harari courtyard houses with brightly decorated interiors. Household access must be negotiated individually and is very achievable with a local fixer.
Filming location · Harari
Filming in Harar
Harar is the visual opposite of the northern highland circuit: hot, close, brightly painted and Islamic, with a rhythm of its own. The alleys are too narrow for a dolly and too dense for a big unit, which is exactly what makes the material feel intimate. It is a location for two or three people moving fast with the right introductions.
Short answer
Harar Jugol is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in eastern Ethiopia, a walled Islamic city regarded as one of the holiest in Islam, with dense alleyways, colourful courtyard houses, historic mosques and shrines, and a market culture built around coffee and khat. Its best-known nightly event is the feeding of wild spotted hyenas by hand just outside the walls, a genuine local practice rather than a staged tourist show. Filming requires regional and city permissions, and the narrow alleys mean small crews, handheld or gimbal work and negotiated household access.
- Region
- Harari
- Altitude
- approx. 1,885 m
- Nearest airport
- Dire Dawa Airport, then road to Harar
- Best time
- October to March
- From Addis Ababa
- Fly to Dire Dawa, then about one hour by road
What to film here
The hyena feeding
Wild spotted hyenas fed by hand after dark, just outside the walls. It happens nightly and is arranged directly with the hyena men. Extremely low light and unpredictable animal movement; plan lighting and safety carefully.
Markets
Several distinct markets including the khat market, the smugglers' market and the recycling market, each with strong observational material and its own etiquette.
Mosques and shrines
Harar has a very high concentration of mosques and shrines within the walls. Access needs religious consent, and modest dress and behaviour are expected.
The Dire Dawa road and the railway
The descent between Dire Dawa and Harar gives strong landscape and travel-sequence material, and the railway corridor carries its own history.
From our shoots
Nearby and related
Other Ethiopian locations
Start a production
Filming in Harar?
Send your dates and shot list. We will come back with the permit route, the access position, realistic travel times and an itemised cost — usually within a working day.