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028 52 1139745|bKanopy 
035    (OCoLC)908377982 
040    CaSfKAN|beng|erda|cCaSfKAN 
043    e-fr--- 
245 00 Shadow of the Holy Book. 
264  1 [San Francisco, California, USA] :|bKanopy Streaming,
       |c2015. 
300    1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 90 min.) :
       |bdigital, .flv file, sound 
336    two-dimensional moving image|btdi|2rdacontent 
337    computer|bc|2rdamedia 
338    online resource|bcr|2rdacarrier 
344    digital 
347    video file|bMPEG-4|bFlash 
500    Title from title frames. 
518    Originally produced by California Newsreel in 2008. 
520    Why are some of the world's biggest international 
       companies translating the Ruhnama, an absurd government 
       propaganda book from Turkmenistan, into their own 
       languages? This high-spirited, political satire exposes 
       the complicity of multinational corporations in supporting
       and legitimizing dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, of 
       Turkmenistan, one of the world's most egregious violators 
       of human rights. Niyazov, self-appointed President for 
       Life, transformed a remote Central Asian republic into one
       of the most oppressive, megalomaniacal and bizarre regimes
       in recent history. Turkmenistan, which borders Kazakhstan,
       Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran, is also home to one of 
       the world's largest oil and natural gas reserves. Such 
       resource endowments have attracted world leaders and multi
       -billion dollar corporations who set aside their morals 
       and knowingly propped up the regime to secure profitable 
       business deals. The 'holy book' in the film's title refers
       to the Ruhnama, written by Niyazov, is a mixture of legend
       and his own delusional thinking, serving as a central part
       to his dictatorship, even more so than Mao's 'little red 
       book'. The Ruhnama has been fully integrated into the 
       Turkmen educational system, taught in literature and math 
       classes, memorization is even required to obtain a driving
       license. Desiring to be the 13th Prophet of Islam, Niyazov
       angered many of the country's Muslim religious leaders 
       with his attempts to make the Ruhnama as prominent as the 
       Koran, and those who spoke out were imprisoned. Why then 
       has this 'holy book' been translated into forty languages,
       paid for by some of the world's largest corporations' 
       Siemens, Daimler-Chrysler, Caterpillar, John Deere, 
       Bouygues, among many others, have all prostrated 
       themselves before this preposterous screed. Shadow of the 
       Holy Book reveals that the royalties these companies paid 
       the Niyasov regime never found their way to the 
       impoverished Turkmen people. Instead, the profits were 
       squandered on embellishing the country's capital of 
       Ashgabad with gold statues of Niyasov and an enormous, 
       illuminated sculpture of the Ruhnama in the central 
       square. The contractors for these monstrosities were, 
       unsurprisingly, the same companies who translated the 
       book. Beyond Ashgabad, the rest of Turkmenistan is a 
       barren desert, its scant water siphoned off to feed the 
       capital's incongruous fountains and green lawns. There is 
       widespread child labor, no health care and endemic 
       unemployment. The young flock to the city in search of 
       employment, many of whom end up in prostitution. The 
       filmmakers speak with Turkmeni dissidents, journalists and
       human rights advocates, now either in jail or exile. Like 
       other totalitarian leaders, Niyasov ran a state-of-the-art
       security apparatus, with everything from surveillance 
       cameras to electrodes, supplied by multinational 
       corporations friendly to his regime. When the filmmakers, 
       in the style of Michael Moore, try to interview the CEOs 
       of these corporations, they are met by locked doors, hang 
       ups and even the police. In 2006 Niyasov died of a sudden 
       heart attack, providing a brief window of opportunity to 
       democratize the political system. But, the international 
       community and the multinational corporations rallied 
       around the new dictator, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammadov, who 
       bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the old. He is 
       said to be writing a book. "Funny and Confrontational" - 
       John Anderson, Variety "Five Inspirational Stars for a 
       docugation gone surreal, this grows on me, in that funny 
       megalomaniacal way" - Peter Wintonick, POV Magazine, 
       Canada "SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK combines interviews with 
       Turkemen dissidents, human rights activists and Western 
       corporate representatives with pseudo-television newscasts
       and footage from the country to peel off the mask of 
       respectability worn by companies that put profits ahead of
       morality and common sense." - Eric Freedman, Assistant 
       Dean of International Studies and Associate Professor of 
       Journalism, Michigan State University 
538    Mode of access: World Wide Web. 
600 10 Tu̇rkmenbashy, Saparmyrat,|d1940-2006. 
650  0 Political science|zTurkmenistan|xInternational business 
       enterprises|y1991-2006. 
650  0 Human rights|zTurkmenistan. 
655  7 Documentary films.|2lcgft 
700 1  Halonen, Arto,|d1964-|efilm director. 
710 2  Kanopy (Firm) 
914    kan1139745