TRNC’s own Game of Thrones-style movie

A FANTASY film shoot in the fairy-tale setting of St Hilarion Castle next year sees Girne-born author and artist Kemal Behçet Caymaz promise North Cyprus its very own Game of Thrones style entertainment.

The Cyprus American University-based artist told Cyprus Today: “It’s full of special effects, demons, fairies and magical creatures and based on the first volume of my Sapphire trilogy.

“It’s a visual feast for the younger generation, which we hope to market in Europe and put St Hilarion and North Cyprus on the map.

“I am having meetings with the producers next week and have a list of young and proven Turkish and Turkish Cypriot actors for all my characters.”

Better known to art lovers for his awarded painting and ceramic exhibitions, Mr Caymaz also illustrated a special hardback edition, Sapphire: The Promised Time, the first volume of the trilogy which was published in English in March.

Billed as a “fantasy adventure from Saint Hilarion Castle on the mountains of Cyprus, to Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris” it features a young hero, Prince Sapphire, once an ordinary mortal named Seçkin, who is catapulted into a fantasy world after meeting a genie.

Mr Caymaz released illustrations for his second volume this week, which is due for publication in May or June next year.

“My readers are all waiting for the story to continue,” he added.

Sapphire: The Promised Time is now available in paperback from the Amazon website priced at £6.50 or as an illustrated hardback priced for 60TL from Lefkoşa’s Rüstem Bookshop or the Best Seller bookshops in Alsancak and Karakum.