An early UK preview of a film that premiered in Oswestry thanks to a local film enthusiast’s intervention is to make its national TV debut this week.
The movie “The Other Fellow” is about men who have the real name James Bond - and how their association with the long-running 007 brand has affected them and their lives.
It was shown just after its red-carpet London premiere last summer by the Oswestry Film Society - run by Oswestry's own James Bond.
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Australian director and James Bond fan Matthew Bauer travelled the world speaking to and filming people who share the moniker with the super spy for his documentary.
What he found - eventually - was a long list of highs and lows when living a life compared to a fictional character of such renown.
He said: "The funny thing was, it was hard to locate them on social media at first because they can't join as James Bond on Facebook, it flags them as having a fake ID.”
The initial list of interviewees soon grew - from the family who passed the name down generations, to a man in prison and convicted of murder.
"Then funnily enough, someone in London told me that they knew a guy who used to be James Bond and he changed his name," Bauer added.
That Bond hated his surname so much that at the age of 32 he officially changed it, taking his daughter's last name to make him James Hart.
As news of The Other Fellow spread, more global James Bonds appeared, including Oswestry's former BBC Shropshire presenter who was invited to the London premiere in May.
"That was an amazing experience," said our Bond, "And while I was there I cheekily asked Matthew Bauer if he'd come to Shropshire to talk about his film if we showed it at the Oswestry Film Society.”
He continued: “Amazingly he said 'yes' - which was something of a coup, and he went down a storm in front of a full-house audience."
The film was shot in multiple countries, including the UK, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Sweden, Italy, India, and Guyana, and has been well received by critics internationally.
“The Other Fellow” makes its UK streaming premiere on ITVX on January 4.
For those local to Oswestry, the Oswestry Film Society will kick off their 2024 programme on Tuesday, January 16.
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