Town pays for its 'mad, mad film'

A star-studded film funded by firms in a small south Wales town has had a glitzy premiere in the local cinema.
Film and sport celebrities mingled with locals on the red carpet at the Market Hall Cinema in Brynmawr.

Gullible's Travels features former Coronation Street star Denise Welch and Eve Myles from BBC Wales's Torchwood.

Andrew Jenkins, who helped finance the movie, said the local pub and other local businesses had put in money "and helped us do this mad, mad film".

Writer-director Peter Watkins-Hughes said the premiere was to send a thank you to local people.

The film was shot entirely in nearby Tredegar, and he set out to capture the humour of the area.
He said: "Everywhere we went in Tredegar we were welcomed with open arms. We have gone for a full red carpet job for the premiere to thank the community for their hospitality."
Welsh rugby stars Gareth Thomas and Garin Jenkins were flying in from the Rugby World Cup in France to attend the premiere of the comedy, which tells of the misfortunes of two men when they buy what they thinks is a severed celebrity body.
Dumper truck
Other stars of the film are Maggie John, of BBC Wales sitcom High Hopes, and another former Coronation Street actor, Charlie Dale.
Mr Watkins-Hughes, who is from Brynmawr, said he set out to make a film that captured the humour of the area.
He was delighted when local businesses financially backed the production.
"Every local business and every individual we approached were so generous," he said.
"We were given helicopters, cars and even a dumper truck - I was staggered at how many millionaires live there.
"It shows it's not all deprivation in the valleys."
One of the challenges of the film was to shoot every scene in Tredegar - which tested the production team when they needed to portray the flat landscape of Belgium.
"We ended up filming on top of a hill," said Mr Watkins-Hughes, who was proud to shoot his first film in Wales after producing TV shows for 15 years.
Mr Watkins-Hughes is hoping a major distributor will show it in major cinemas across the UK next year.
Denise Welch, who played pub landlady Natalie in Coronation Street, said the support of the community was one of the reasons she decided to accept a role in the film.
"I was so impressed that the people in Tredegar raised all the money themselves," she said.
She said the film-makers had had offers "from different film boards and film institutes".
"But because they come on board with the money, they then want to come on board with the power and control," she added.
"They've made a film they can be very proud of."