TRNC set for Derecho

Producers of a new action thriller have been touring potential filming locations around the TRNC. Chief Reporter KEREM HASAN joined them for an exclusive sneak preview of their plans.

NORTH Cyprus landmarks — its ancient sites, villages, hotels, harbours and its airport — have been “auditioned” as the country prepares to take a central “role” in a 90-minute feature film.

From Ercan to Karaman to Girne, the thriller, Derecho, will follow its main character on an action-packed hunt for clues to his mother’s death.

Produced and directed by students from Britain’s University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), in Preston, Derecho’s young production team were in North Cyprus last week to scout potential filming locations.

They were shown around the country by Peter Wills and Leo Collier-Bett of North Cyprus Film Productions, which is providing location management.

TRNC shooting is planned for May, under the direction of Ryan McLeese and Garjun Lau, as well as in north-west England, Yorkshire, London and Baoding, in China. The film is due for completion next spring.

Oliver Blackburn, one of the visiting producers, told Cyprus Today: “We are planning to film part of the main chase scene in Girne’s Wednesday market, where the main character runs from assassins.

“We are planning to have a gunshot scene [there], although the gunshot itself will be filmed in the UK because, under restrictions in the TRNC, we can’t bring over stage prop weapons that fire.”

Mr Collier-Bett added: “The chase sequence originates from a hotel. The main character enters the hotel and we will incorporate footage from Karmi [Karaman] . . . like a James Bond-style chase through the village. We want the main character jumping on and off rooftops before transferring to the market scene via the side entrance of a hotel.

“We will therefore film one chase scene at three locations, which in reality are several kilometres away from each other, as is done in Hollywood and other film production centres.

“It will be action-packed with lots of adrenaline, and audiences seeing the beautiful areas of North Cyprus.”

Mr Blackburn, of first-time movie outfit Blackwoods Production, explained: “We plan to use . . . Girne yacht harbour in the movie to tell viewers that we are actually in Northern Cyprus for real and not anywhere else in Cyprus.

“Ercan airport will be used to show that the main character travels here from his home in London. We hope to film a flight landing, him coming out of the terminal and being taken to a hotel.

“Kervansaray will be where the main character meets another important character — the woman in the film — and where they will talk about how their parents died.

“When we wrote the script, we wrote that the main character travelled around on a train. But obviously North Cyprus doesn’t have trains, so as an alternative we have placed him in a renovated, traditional Bedford bus as he travels to Karmi.”

He added: “Karmi will take up the bulk of the film, but we also visited Lefkoşa’s Büyük Han and historical quarter . . .

“We visited the hills of the Five Finger mountains, villages such as Lapta, Alsancak, Karaoğlanoğlu . . . Edremit and Çatalköy, and will now select places for filming major scenes.

“We are planning to film up to 10 scenes in North Cyprus, depending on how many locations we select, but the more there are, the more production value will be added to the film, which will be a mix of mystery and action. “It’s not going to be like Mission: Impossible, Die Hard or the Bollywood film Race 2 that was filmed in Girne. It’s going to be based more on a real-life situation. There will be special effects and chase scenes, with some people getting killed.” Derecho’s title is derived from an often-devastating storm system that moves rapidly for long distances and can cover a front several miles the film’s plo journalist by played by Kri troversial ne news, but is gets kicked ou

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