After just over two weeks filming in the region, Christophe Herreros and his film crew returned to Paris June 3. They had wrapped up filming “After the Mist Clears” Sunday, May 27 at Hendrick’s Head Light – and none of them wanted to leave. Herreros, however, was looking forward to being back home with his wife, Charlotte (who was here during the filming of “Return To Cabot Cove” in 2016), and their two young children.

“They say ‘It is so beautiful here and the people are so friendly … why do we have to go back to Paris?’” Herreros said.

The members of the team reluctant to leave the Boothbay Region were director of photography Margot Besson, Manon Pietrzak, assistant director; Makoto Matsuo, who came from New York City to work with Herreros again (Matsuo worked on the Cabot Cove project), as gaffer; sound engineer Julia Martin, and producers Elsa Klughertz, Igor Courtecuisse and Clemence Crepin Neel.

“After the Mist Clears,” Herreros’ most ambitious project in his 13 years as a filmmaker/writer/director, is the story of a local man’s substance use disorder and his struggle to get and remain clean. There is an element of fiction woven into the piece with the addition of a girlfriend. In the film, Herreros named the character/narrator Jack. The Boothbay resident Herrreos met in Boothbay Harbor in 2016 has been clean for five years now.

From the moment Herreros met “Jack,” this project began to take shape in his mind. He and Charlotte returned almost three years ago and he had already begun working on the script. The fictional component is a lingering toxic relationship with an ex-girlfriend. The story involves choices, addiction, relationships, recovery and redemption.

The script was rewritten several times over the last two years, and then again during filming. Herreros said it was important to him for “Jack” to tell his story in his own words as he is also the narrator who speaks directly to the camera.

The crew got everything they wanted and more for the film. They filmed the memorial boat parade for fisherman Donald Brewer Sr. and the Memorial Day observances. “The Memory Day shows the community coming together; it paints a real moment in the history of the city. It was very powerful.”

For Herreros, these two events showed the two sides of the town – winter and summer, dark side and light side. The dual nature of a town or city was important to capture: the caring community living in a beautiful place juxtaposed aginst complex, darker issues usually unseen … addiction, despair, conflict, abuse … here, as it is in communities all over the world.

The exhausted but happy Herreros said there were many people to thank. Mark Stover, Chris Armstead (VFW), and Steve Markowitz (Boothbay Railway Village Museum/BRVM) were invaluable when Herreros first arrived May 12, a week ahead of the production team, to scout out locations. The trio also provided him with many contacts. Other locals and locations that became part of the production were Tom and Debrah Yale, who gave the crew access to their float to shoot the memorial boat parade in addition to the use of two skiffs; Boothbay Town Manager Dan Bryer, Markowitz and Lori Reynolds at BRVM; Brian Cookson and Cindy Landry at Cook’s Landing who managed to get a boom truck for the scene that was filmed there; Becky Abbott and Amy Reny of  Burke’s Island Farm in Boothbay, for providing horses Charlie and Bo and some of the camp kids as extras.

“I am sorry I do not remember everyone,” he said. “I was deep into the story and making the movie and (when I am) I don’t see other things around me.”

In addition to Hendrick’s Head light and Cook’s Landing, filming locations in the region were BRVM, a cabin in East Boothbay; Ocean Point, downtown Boothbay Harbor, Hannaford’s parking lot, Boothbay Region Historical Society, and on the water in front of Cuckold’s Light.

“It was a wonderful time. We met a lot of friendly people,” said Herreros. “I was happy to see people who are now a part of my life, old friends ... Chief Bob, Dan (Bryer), Howard (Wright), Deanna (Breen), and ‘Jack.’”

Once he is settled back at home, the editing begins. The team shot five hours of film. “And that is a lot. It will be one month editing the film, then adding the music and subtitles.”

A separate team of people Herreros works with will complete the sound editing and rest of the finishing work. When it is completed, his team will begin sending the film to festivals, small cinemas and, eventually, hopefully, it will air on French TV.

Herreros dreamed of making films since boyhood. He began fulfilling the dream in 2008. “It is more than my passion; the camera is like a pen (for a writer) or a brush (for a painter); it is my way to describe the world. I like to create emotion and energy; to have and create experiences. For me, the experience (of making a film) is too important.”

Several of the people involved with the project, in and behind the scenes, as well as old friends, gathered at the crew’s home base at Coveside on Southport Island after filming wrapped. “It was really … intense. We did not say goodbye to everyone, we said something like … maybe we see you tomorrow. It was a heartbreaker. It is an intense experience … being human.”

Locals and others from here to Portland in the film are Christopher Armstead, Kaddie Sharp, Mark Stover, Robert Hasch, Gretchen Armstead, Bonnie Stover, Nick Immatteo, Richard Bray, Thomas W. Pinette, Joseph G. Donahue, Imij Armstead, Mason Hawkes, Bill Wood, Catherine McCarron, Katie Scattergood, Amy Reny, Steve Markowitz, Dale Lancaster, Miles Bobbes, James Gayton, Alex Gayton, Melissa Thornton, Kat Moranos, Eli DiGiulian, Douglas Snyder, Joshua Redmond, William E. Parker Jr, Cindy Landry, the Greta Schaefer Band, Jack Bauman, Howard Wright Sr., Dee Wright, Elisabeth Wright, Burke’s Island Farm campers Piper, Harriet, Lydia, Brianna and Olivia; and Francine and Thomas Rondina.