THE red carpet was brought out for the premiere of a film set in a west Dorset village.

Thorncombe residents flocked to the south west premiere of The Rev, a short film set in the village featuring its residents and surroundings as extras.

The Rev stars theatre actor Jack Holden, who has appeared in War Horse at the National Theatre. The 'surreal, dream-like' film has been entered for a variety of short film festivals and has achieved much success.

The Rev's writer and director, star and some of its production team were welcomed back to Thorncombe for this special evening, which was held to raise money for the community shop in the village.

Guests, who were dressed to impress, lined the red carpet and enjoyed canapes and a special tasting of wines available to buy in the village shop, before watching a screening of three short films made by Watersmeet Productions.

The highlight of the evening was The Rev, starring Jack Holden of National Theatre War Horse fame, and featuring a 'motley crowd' of Thorncombe residents.

Villagers appeared as extras in a scene involving a rock gospel choir and a coffin in the church.

Anne Johnson-Rooks, chairman of the Thorncombe Village Shop Management Committee, said: "It was great fun to spot friends and neighbours in their moment of fame!

"We had such a fun evening.

"After the screening, our master of ceremonies organised a Q and A session with star Jack Holden and Fabia Martin, the writer and director, and invited questions from the audience.

"It was lovely as people in the shop were heavily involved in the film. We have a community cafe in the shop which fed the film crew doing their dinners and some early starts to provide them with breakfast."

Anne added that Thorncombe Village Shop wished to offer 'heartfelt thanks to all who worked hard to make the evening a resounding success', to the MC, to the volunteer cooks who made the canapes, to those who set up the hall and arranged the wine tasting, to sponsors, Edmonds Flooring, the Plaza Cinema, and Myra’s Kaiseki, to the production team and those who bought tickets to attend the evening.