The Director of Eras

A director living in a quiet village seeks to immortalize his late wife in a film. When extras arrive from outside the village, they behave in strange and suspicious ways. It is revealed that the director is actually a time-traveling agent tasked with stepping into the shoes of a specific historical figure; this leads him to traverse time, living through various stories all linked by a single connection or event. How does this unfold, and how does the story begin?