Shadow of the Holy Book
California Newsreel
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.
"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
Running Time
91 mins
Year
2007
Kanopy ID
1139745
Filmmakers
Languages
Subjects
Show More
Related videos
May Justice Be Done - The Economic Crisis in Argentina
By any standard Argentina was a very rich country until the 1970s, with competitive industries, modern agriculture, and a prosperous middle class. By 2001, 21 out of 36 million people were living below the poverty level, and formerly eradicated diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy reemerged. MAY JUSTICE BE DONE…
Controlling Interest - The Growth of Conglomerates and Their Influence on Global Affairs
The first account on film of the growth of multinational corporations, their impact on people at home and abroad, and their influence on U.S. foreign policy.
This is the film that helped kick-off the anti-globalization movement. Upon its release, CONTROLLING INTEREST quickly became a standard "audio-visual text" for those concerned…
Health For Sale - The Debate Over Big Pharma
Are the world's largest drug companies, paradoxically, major obstacles to making a healthier world?
HEALTH FOR SALE focuses on Big Pharma, the ten largest pharmaceutical makers, who account for 500 billion dollars of world health spending a year and whose 205 billion dollars in pre-tax profits were more than the…
Maquilapolis: City of Factories - Activism for Low-Wage Workers in Mexico
Carmen Duran works the graveyard shift in one of Tijuana's 800 maquiladoras; she is one of six million women around the world who labor for poverty wages in the factories of transnational corporations. After making television components all night, Carmen comes home to a dirt-floor shack she built out of…
Arlit: Deuxieme Paris - Environmental Racism in the Sahara Desert
A case study in environmental racism set in a uranium mining town in the Sahara desert of Niger. Here European corporations extract nuclear power and profits leaving behind disease, contamination and unemployment. Ironically the primary activities of Arlit today is waiting, waiting to die of radiation related sicknesses or to…
Where Do You Stand? - Stories from An American Mill
2004 CINE Golden Eagle Winner, 2006 Emmy Award Nominee.
After a quarter century of struggle, mill workers in Kannapolis, North Carolina won the single largest industrial union victory in the history of the South.
WHERE DO YOU STAND? STORIES FROM AN AMERICAN MILL is a haunting documentary about the rise…
The Business of America...
An exploration of supply side economics and the trickle down myth as exemplified by Pittsburgh's declining steel industry.
THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA... is the first film to probe one of our most treasured economic assumptions: that private corporations can be trusted to make the investments upon which all Americans depend.…
End of the Rainbow - The Impact of Global Extractive Industries
An in-depth look at the impact of a multinational gold mining industry on the economy, environment and traditions of a local community in Guinea.
END OF THE RAINBOW provides a concise, in-depth look at the impact of global extractive industries on local populations, their economy, their traditions and their environment.…
The Beloved Community
In the summer of 2004, Canadian health researchers made a startling discovery in the Chippewa birth records for the city of Sarnia, an hour north of Detroit: for the past decade, female babies had been outnumbering male babies at a rate of 2:1. Further investigation revealed large numbers of miscarriages,…
David Korten: Replacing the Suicide Economy
Interview with David Korten, an economist, author, activist, and prominent critic of corporate globalization. He is the author of four books but is perhaps best known for his bestselling 1995 book, When Corporations Rule the World, an examination of market libertarians' twisting of famed economist Adam Smith's teachings and a…
Clockwork - Frederick Taylor and His Theories on Scientific Management
One hundred years ago American management faced many of the problems it confronts today - poor productivity, rapid technological change, and heightened competition. CLOCKWORK shows how Frederick Taylor and his followers attempted to meet these challenges through "scientific management," a radical program to organize every aspect of production under a…
Not Just a Paycheck
In the winter of 2006, the Electrolux Corporation closed the largest refrigerator factory in the U.S. and moved it to Juarez, Mexico, for cheaper labor. The move turned the lives of nearly 3,000 workers in Greenville, Michigan, upside down.
As middle-class Americans find their health and way of life increasingly…