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Margate seafront a snowy wonderland as Sam Mendes films Empire of Light

A video has captured the amazing scenes on a Kent seafront that has been transformed into a winter wonderland for a new Hollywood film.

Margate seafront is currently playing host to actors and film crews as they shoot new movie Empire of Light – starring Academy Award-winners Colin Firth and Olivia Colman.

Written and directed by Sam Mendes - the Oscar-winner behind films including 1917, American Beauty, and Bond films Skyfall and Spectre - it is believed to be a love story set in and around a cinema during the 1980s.

Margate's iconic Dreamland building has been transformed in recent days into a stylish retro cinema named the Empire, while outside Marine Terrace has been strewn with fake snow and hung with Christmas lights, turning it into a picture postcard.

Footage shot on the seafront captured the moment a crew member stood on a lofty ladder, showering fake snow onto the scene below.

Film director Sam Mendes on Margate beach Pic: Frank Leppard
Film director Sam Mendes on Margate beach Pic: Frank Leppard
A crew hand operates a snow machine on Margate seafront Pic: Frank Leppard
A crew hand operates a snow machine on Margate seafront Pic: Frank Leppard
Film crews for Empire of Light set up on Margate beach Pic: Frank Leppard
Film crews for Empire of Light set up on Margate beach Pic: Frank Leppard
Snowy scenes in Marine Terrace, Margate. Picture: Frank Leppard
Snowy scenes in Marine Terrace, Margate. Picture: Frank Leppard

Meanwhile, vintage cars in pale blue and British racing green trundled along Marine Terrace, which has been shut to allow for filming.

Sam Mendes could be seen standing beneath a gazebo stationed on the beach, watching closely as the filming took place.

Empire of Light is the first script written solely by the director, whose films have collectively been nominated for 33 Academy Awards, winning 12.

Dreamland lights up under the guise of the Empire cinema, for filming of the Empire of Light movie Pic: Roy Foord
Dreamland lights up under the guise of the Empire cinema, for filming of the Empire of Light movie Pic: Roy Foord
Fake snow used on the set of Empire of Light Pic: Roy Foord
Fake snow used on the set of Empire of Light Pic: Roy Foord
Sam Mendes - pictured on Margate beach - is the writer and director of Empire of Light Pic: Frank Leppard
Sam Mendes - pictured on Margate beach - is the writer and director of Empire of Light Pic: Frank Leppard

The film will be released by Searchlight Pictures.

Along with Olivia Colman and Colin Firth, it will star Toby Jones, Michael Ward, Crystal Clarke, Tom Brooke and Hannah Onslow.

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