Maps of Movies
Body of Lies (2008)
Where Body of Lies says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
A film about Jordan and Dubai that was shot in Morocco and Washington, D.C.
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Scenes and places
The Manchester apartment raid (2008)
Police close in on a bombers' apartment in Manchester after the Sheffield bus bombings. The terrorists inside set off an explosion, showing how far the cell will go.
Set in Manchester, England — The English city where police raid an apartment after the Sheffield bombings. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A large English city in the northwest; here it is only the opening setback for the hunt.
Filmed at Baltimore, Maryland — Wikipedia says locations in Baltimore stood in for Manchester; the exact street is not given. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The walk-in near Samarra (2008)
Ferris meets an Iraqi walk-in who offers information about Al-Saleem's group in return for asylum. A video the walk-in carries gives him his first lead on the cell's next plans.
Set in Samarra, Iraq — The Iraqi city where Ferris is tracking Al-Saleem. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A Tigris river city north of Baghdad.
The burning safe house in Balad (2008)
Ferris and his local partner Bassam search a safe house the walk-in named and find evidence being burned. A shootout follows as they grab what they can and run.
Set in Balad, Iraq — The town where Ferris and Bassam find a safe house with documents and DVDs being burned. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A town north of Baghdad, on the road toward Samarra.
The briefing at CIA headquarters (2008)
Back in Langley's orbit, Hoffman tells Ferris the recovered intelligence points to a safe house in Amman. He makes Ferris acting station chief there, with an order he has no plan to follow.
Set in CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia — Where Hoffman supervises Ferris and sends him to Jordan. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The suburb of Washington that stands for the US intelligence world.
Filmed at National Geographic offices, Gaithersburg, Maryland — Wikipedia names the National Geographic offices in Gaithersburg as the stand-in for CIA headquarters; the city centre is used, not the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The CIA station in Amman (2008)
Ferris takes over the station and works with Hani Salaam against Hoffman's orders to keep information to himself. Surveillance of the safe house turns into a chase through an alley.
Set in Amman, Jordan — The Jordanian capital where the second safe house is and where Ferris runs the station. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The capital of Jordan, built across a set of hills.
Filmed at Basketball stadium, Rabat, Morocco — Wikipedia: the basketball stadium in Rabat was used as the US embassy in Jordan, with a CIA office set built inside; only the city is known here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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Salaam's intelligence headquarters (2008)
Salaam shows Ferris how his service works, from the quiet charm of a professional to the threat of what happens to a man who crosses him. Ferris learns Hoffman's interference has a price.
Set in General Intelligence Directorate headquarters, Jordan — The base of Hani Salaam, head of the Jordanian intelligence service.
A bare building the film dresses as a secret-police headquarters.
The Amsterdam flower-market bomb (2008)
Al-Saleem's network strikes again at an Amsterdam market. The news reports tie the bombing to the earlier attacks in Europe and the UK.
Set in Flower market, Amsterdam — A crowded market district hit by a car bomb on a winter day. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A canal-city market with block-long stalls.
Filmed at Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. — Wikipedia: part of the Capitol Hill neighborhood was dressed as a wintry Amsterdam for a ten- to fifteen-second car-bomb shot; the exact street is not given. Google Maps · Apple Maps
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The Dubai financier cover (2008)
Back in Washington, Ferris builds a false trail around an innocent Jordanian architect, Omar Sadiki, and plays a financier hiring him. The aim is to make Al-Saleem's people reach out.
Set in Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Where Ferris pretends to be a financier to set up Omar Sadiki. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A Gulf city; the production was not allowed to film there.
The Incirlik air base explosion (2008)
The staged attack on a US air base in Turkey shows the world that Sadiki is a planner. News reports call it the first strike on American property.
Set in Incirlik Air Base, Turkey — The US-used air base that the staged attack targets. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A Turkish air base long used by US forces.
The cell outside Rabat (2008)
Ferris is taken across a border and interrogated by Al-Saleem in a cell. The scene is lit only by the torturers' torches.
Set in Syria — The country where Al-Saleem's men take Ferris across the border and interrogate him.
A windowless cell lit by two torches.
Filmed at Prison cell outside Rabat, Morocco — Wikipedia: the climactic torture scene was filmed in an ancient, windowless prison cell outside Rabat; only the city is known. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Filmed at Desert near Ouarzazate, Morocco — Desert scenes Google Maps · Apple Maps
Filmed at Casablanca, Morocco — Airport and airfield Google Maps · Apple Maps
Characters
- Roger Ferris — A CIA field officer tracking a terrorist leader across Iraq and Jordan.
- Ed Hoffman — Ferris's supervisor in Langley, who runs the hunt by phone and by drone.
- Hani Salaam — The head of Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate.
Questions answered on the map
- Where were the Dubai and Jordan scenes of Body of Lies really filmed?