The people of Epsom couldn’t believe their eyes on Bank Holiday Monday (May 28) when they spotted Darth Vader in Leighton’s Opticians.
And customers in The Absolute Barber Shop felt their hair stand on end when Boba Fett popped in for a trim, while browsers haunting Waterstones were suddenly confronted by the Ghostbusters team.
The superheroes and villains were taking part in a film to promote Satisfied Eye International Film Festival (SEIFF) which holds its first-ever event in Epsom in October.
Artistic director Chris Hastings said: “We want people to realise that SEIFF is all about bringing film to town. The festival will be showcasing the latest and best movies by up and coming filmmakers from around the world."
Daft Vader tries on some specs in Leighton’s Opticians
As word spread that Hollywood had invaded the town, children and adults queued up, desperate to have photos taken with the famous fictional characters.
Mr Hastings added: "The one thing we hadn’t allowed time for was all the people wanting to take photos. Everyone had tremendous fun.”
The actors were all dedicated cosplayers – people whose hobby it is to roleplay characters from films, games, books, and comics.
“I can’t thank local people and businesses enough for responding so magnificently to our request to take part in the film," said Mr Hastings.
“We were on a crazily tight schedule trying to fit all this in and against all the odds we managed to do it."
Seven local shops took part in the filming, some of them opening especially for the event.
Bumblebee from Transformers takes an afternoon off fighting Decepticons to blast balls on the courts
Scenes were also shot at Rosebery Park (Atomic Blonde’s Lorraine Broughton), Stitch Mouse (Walking Dead’s Negan), The Toy Barnhaus (Iron Man), Epsom Lawn Tennis Club (Transformers’ Bumblebee), Hatty’s Sweet Shop (Batman), and JF Daughters (Deadpool pawning the Infinity Gauntlet).
Cinematographer for the shoot was 14-year-old Luke Whatley-Bigg, an up-and-coming Epson filmmaker whose stunning drone videos of Surrey and iconic locations such as First World War cemeteries and the Jurassic coastline feature on YouTube.
People in the Epsom and Ewell area who want to attend the film festival this October 26-28 can pre-register now for first pick of the tickets when they become available in autumn by visiting www.SEIFF.shp.media/tickets
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