JENNIFER Saunders will be the special guest at the opening night of Chagford Film Festival on September 26, introducing a showing of the new Absolutely Fabulous movie and fielding a question and answer session afterwards.

Running throughout the week is the theme of Las Vegas comes to Chagford. There will be films with a Vegas theme, a Las Vegas Show Night with Elvis and Frank Sinatra, a best Elvis competition, a casino and even an Elvis wedding chapel.

One of the highlights of the programme is the animation day planned for Tuesday, September 27. Special guests Aardman Animations, famed for the Wallace and Gromit series among many others, will be holding hands-on model making workshops with one of Aardman’s talented model makers.

In the evening, there will be film screenings and a question and answer sessions. David Sproxton, one of the original founders of Aardman, will hold a ‘lunch with’ event, sharing stories of his work on Aardman’s major features and his work on Morph.

Master Chef of Great Britain chocolatier Grant Mather will be doing a chocolate making afternoon as part of the festival’s food-themed day on Thursday, September 29. Sol Cinema, the country’s smallest solar-powered cinema is back by popular demand for two days.

The festival offers an exciting mix of films, brilliant events and workshops, presented by top industry professionals; the detailed festival programme is still being finalised.