Walhalla, a spectacular goldmining town on the edge of the high country, was made to look like a Nepalese mountain village for filming, attracting dozens of curious locals and national media attention.

Back in early 2020, Ballarat had a similar experience during the production of Road to Boston, a South Korean film that needed a heritage feel for its streetscape shots.

The film follows the true story of Suh Yun-Bok, a 24-year-old runner who raced in the 1947 Boston Marathon - his coach had earlier won the marathon gold medal at the 1936 Olympics, but running under a Japanese flag, so for his protégé to run with the Korean flag after the country's liberation was a major moment.

The film was officially released in September 2023, with a short showing at metropolitan cinemas - sadly it's not currently available to stream in Australia.

Reviews stated it's a fantastic sports film, with an inspiring underdog story.

The trailer and official poster does have a few exciting cameos for Ballarat locals.

Filming took place at the Ballarat airport, with the tree-lined Airport Road becoming the starting line, before a day filming in front of Lydiard Street's historic shopfronts.

Production crews covered up business signs and modern bits like parking meters to make the street look like 1940s Boston, and dozens of extras were in full period costume.

The Courier's Lachlan Bence had a field day acting as an unofficial production photographer, capturing the extras quickly checking their phones or sipping takeaway coffees between takes, and all the excitement as the "runners" went up and down the hill to Sturt Street.

He also got the first early shots of star Im Si-wan, a major celebrity in South Korea.

The film was particularly well-received in South Korea, and has a bunch of 4-star reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, and Letterboxd.