MOVIE CREWS were in the town last week to film the last remaining scenes of Ray Winstone’s up and coming film.

Crews filming Lost in Italy, the story of a man who wakes up in Italy in 1954 with no recollection of how he got there, were in the Aubrey Art Gallery behind the post office in the high street. They also filmed scenes at Felsted Church.

The two locations were chosen by co-producer Glen Murphy after he spent eight years living in Dunmow.

“My parents still live in Dunmow so I know the area,” said Mr Murphy. “My mum is also a keen artist and has been in to the Aubrey Gallery a lot. We came to scout the place out as a possible location and found it perfect for recreating Italy.”

Owner of the art gallery, Liz Davies, said it was very interesting to have a film crew using her gallery and to see how the professionals get to work.

“They came to have a look at the gallery about two weeks ago,” she said. “They felt it was appropriate for the scene in the film when Serena Iansiti’s character is selling her art in an Italian gallery.”

Co-producers Mr Murphy and Steve Darts flew lead character Miss Iansiti into Stansted Airport on March 10 for the final two days of filming.

They spent the morning filming a wedding scene at Felsted Church before moving to the art gallery.

Mr Darts told the Broadcast that filming for Lost in Italy had gone “very well” and was hoping that the series of films that he is producing go as well.

“We spent four weeks in Italy, two in London where Ray Winstone was on board, and now we are wrapping up the film here,” he said.

“We are really pleased and there has been lots of interest with distributors.

“This is the first in a series of five films over the next couple of years. The next one is a film called Sabini.”

Lost in Italy will feature a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards as the main character, Tony, discovers what happened to him and why he is in Italy.

Mr Murphy, who plays Tony as well as co-producing, said the film is about redemption.

“The flashbacks for my character go back to his troubled childhood with his father, who is played by Ray Winstone,” he said.

The film also features the story of Margarita, played by Miss Iansiti. Audiences will see two branching story lines that feature her life with and without Tony. The producers saw Miss Iansiti during a pasta advert that aired in the UK.

Mr Murphy said: “We saw her in an advert with Tim Lovejoy and we both thought ‘she’s stunning, she’s beautiful, she would be perfect for the part in our film,’ so we got in contact with her agent and signed her up.”

The film is being produced by Finger of Suspicion and directed by Craig Viveiros and is expected to be released in the summer.