Pyhän Kirjan Varjo

Finland

Synopsis

Why are some of the world's biggest international companies translating the Ruhnama, an absurd government propaganda book from Turkmenistan, into their own languages? SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK exposes the immorality of international companies doing business with the dictatorship of oil-and-gas-rich Turkmenistan, thus helping to hide its human rights and free speech abuses - all in the name of profit and corporate greed.

International companies help give the dictatorship the propaganda support that it needs to survive. Turkmenistan’s dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, has written a ludicrous book: the Ruhnama, the Book of the Soul, a key tool in the government’s subjugation of human rights and free speech. Yet many international companies give their clandestine support to the Ruhnama and help suppress the country’s voices of opposition and dissidence – in return for multimillion-dollar business deals. The country’s current leader, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov, has continued to use the Ruhnama to increase his power, and despite making reforms on the surface, the human rights and freedom of speech situation has remained the same. The shadow of the Ruhnama continues to stretch beyond Niyazov’s grave.
 | 

Cast & Crew

Directed by: Arto Halonen

Nominations and Awards

  • European Documentary Award – Prix Arte 2008