Shadow Of The Holy Book

Many bizarre stories emerged out of Turkmenistan when ruled by the egomaniacal and repressive dictator Saparmurat Niyazov (aka Turkmenbashi, the Father of all Turkmen). As reported in Arto Halonen's comically entertaining documentary, a prime part of Turkmenbashi's cult of personality was a national holy book - The Ruhnama, his own self-aggrandizing mix of autobiography and philosophy. It now comes to light that many big Western corporations with an eye on Turkmenistan's rich oil and gas reserves underwrote translated editions of The Ruhnama.