Sumith Prasad
Created by Taylor Sheridan, Paramount+’s Western series ‘1923’ follows the Dutton Family in the titular year, a period in which the State of Montana confronts the challenges that arose as part of Prohibition and the Great Depression. While the Duttons, led by the patriarch Jacob and matriarch Cara, try to save their Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, their nephew and World War I veteran Spencer Dutton is in the African continent, fighting the traumas associated with the War. Since Spencer and his partner Alexandra’s storyline is set in Africa, the viewers must be wondering whether the scenic filming locations of the same are in Africa as well. Here’s everything you need to know about the same!
‘1923’ is filmed in the US, Malta, and the African countries of South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania, with a stopover in Kabul, Afghanistan. The African portions of the first season of the series were filmed amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022. “[…] you saw six thousand sheep, three thousand cattle, and as this show keeps going, you’re in Africa. All real. You know how hard it is to move a crew around in Africa in 2022 with Covid, and all the rules and all the politics?” Sheridan told Deadline about filming in Africa.
“It’s not like we went to one little preserve in South Africa. We were in four different countries. South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, which is actually part of Tanzania, so that doesn’t really count. So, three,” Sheridan added. Now, let us dive into the African locations of the Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-starrer!
South Africa
South Africa, the southernmost country in Africa, serves as one of the major filming locations of ‘1923.’ Umgeni Steam Railway AKA Inchanga Choo Choo stands in for Nairobi Railway Station in the show. The heritage railway station is located in Inchanga, a village in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, over forty kilometers away from the city of Durban. Steam locomotive preservation in the station is one of the most famed attractions in the region. Kearsney Manor, located in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, stands in for Stanley Hotel, where Spencer and Alexandra meet for the first time. Situated in an original sugar estate, the establishment was built by an Englishman named Sir James Liege Hulett in the late 1800s.
Cape Town, one of South Africa’s three capital cities and the oldest city in the country, also serves as a major filming location. As per reports, filming of the series took place in Kalk Bay, a fishing village on the coast of False Bay, in November 2022. Apparently, a makeshift base camp was built in Fish Hoek High School, located in the town of Fish Hoek, Cape Town, for the crew members of the show.
Tanzania
Tanzania, the 13th largest country in Africa, is another African filming location of ‘1923.’ The sequences that establish the African savannah in the first season were filmed in Serengeti National Park, a World Heritage Site located in Northern Tanzania, known for the largest annual animal migration in the world. Serengeti is also the home of the largest lion population on the continent. The beauty of the 3,700,000 acres of virgin savanna of the Park is visible in the few sequences filmed in the region. ‘1923’ is also filmed in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous province of Tanzania and an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Zanzibar is comprised of two large islands, named Unguja and Pemba Island, and several other small ones.
Kenya
The third African country that’s featured in ‘1923’ is Kenya, one of the major settings of Spencer and Alexandra’s storyline. The country is known for its varied geographical attractions, which range from snow-capped mountains to dense forests to absolute deserts. Some of the major attractions in the country include Maasai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli National Park, Lake Nakuru, Lamu Island, etc.
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