Country: Finland
Year: 2007
Language: Turkmen / English
Runtime: 90 minutes
Director: Arto Halonen

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 investigates the morality of international companies and the dictatorship of oil-and-gas-rich Turkmenistan. These 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 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.