The Army, ‘In a Hostile Area’

The Army is contributing with equipment and personnel to the shooting of the film ‘En Zona Hostil’ (In a Hostile Area), which began earlier this month in the desert of Tabernas (Almería). It is based on a real life event which took place in Afghanistan in August 2012, when a helicopter which was about to carry out a medical evacuation suffered an accident. The helicopter crew and the soldiers they had intended to rescue were stuck in flatland and harassed by the enemy overnight.

The actors who play the Spanish troops, prominent among them Ariadna Gil, prepared their roles with the help of the soldiers who were actually involved in the incident, as well as personnel from the Army Airmobile Forces (FAMET, by its Spanish acronym), the Legion Brigade and the Medical Brigade with experience on the ground in Afghanistan. To that aim, the cast lived with the soldiers for several weeks.

The action scenes are being shot with Army helicopters: Chinooks and Tigers from FAMET and medicalised Super Pumas – including the one involved in the original accident, which is preserved at the base “Coronel Maté” in Colmenar Viejo and was transported to Tabernas by gondola.

The pilots, crews and technicians in charge of manning and maintaining the aircraft have also travelled to Tabernas; all in all, around 70 members of FAMET. They have joined a similar number of soldiers from the Legion Brigade who have been providing advice during the shoot. Many of them are also taking part as extras.

In addition, the facilities at the Viator and “Coronel Maté” bases will be used as settings in the movie, and Colonel Allúe (pilot and commander of the Spanish helicopter contingent in Afghanistan in 2005, currently in the Army reserve) has served as military advisor since filming began.

The film is scheduled to be released in late 2016 or, most likely, early 2017.

This collaboration, like any other of its type the Army engages in, sticks to a zero-cost policy: All expenses incurred are covered by the production company.

Shooting of one of the scenes of the movie (Photo: Iván Jiménez/DECET)