Festival 2009Shadow of the holy book

films in competitions | special programs | panorama | films A-Z

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SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK LA UMBRA CĂRŢII SFINTE
Documentary Specifications	Biography / Biografie
View Trailer / Official Website SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK LA UMBRA CĂRŢII SFINTE Phyhan Kirjan Varjo Arto Halonen Finland 2007 90 min. Director: Arto Halonen Photography: Hannu Vitikainen & Arto Halonen Editor: Samu Heikkila Production Company: Arto Halonen / Art Films Productions AFP Ltd. World Distribution & Sales: Films Transit International Address: Arto Halonen / Art Films Productions AFP Ltd., Merimiehenkatu 10, Helsinki, 00150, Finland Tel./ Fax: 00358941593640 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.shadowoftheholybook.com	ARTO HALONEN Founder of the DocPoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival. Numerous awards for his artistic career, mainly concentrated on documentary film production. Fondator al Festivalului de Film Documentar DocPoint, Helsinki. Numeroase premii pentru cariera artistică, concentrată mai ales pe producţia de film documentar.
	Filmography / Filmografie
	2008 - Amends 2007 - Lone Star Hotel 2007 - Confrontations in Cuba 2006 - Tobacco Girls 2005 2006 - Pavlov´s Dogs 2006 - The Legend 2006 - Moonshine Village 2006 - Conquistadors of Cuba 2004 - The Tank Man 2000 - The Stars´Caravan 1998 - Karmapa 1998 - Two Ways of Divinity 1998 - Karmapa 1998 - A Voyage on the Roof of the World 1998 - A Dreamer and the Dreamtribe 1994 - Something in the Blood
	Awards / Premii
	The Finnish State Quality Production Award (2008) Honorary Recognition, International 1001 Documentary Film Festival, Turkey (2008) Winner of the Jury Special Prize at Batumi International Art-House Film Festival, Georgia (2008) Winner of the Audience Choice Award at Taiwan International Documentary Festival (2008) The Jussi Award for Best Documentary Film (2007) Trade Union Award - International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany (2006) Special Award, Tampere Film Festival, Tampere, Finland (2007) Honorary Award, The Kettupäivät, Helsinki, Finland (2006) Best Documentary Film, Magma Short Film Festival, Italy (2004) Diploma of Honour of Jury at the International Competition, 44th Cracow Film Festival, Poland (2004) Jury’s “Coup de Coeur”, Festival International du Film Insulaire (2006) Best Production and Best Editing awards, Gava Film Festival, Barcelona (1999)

Synopsis / Sinopsis

Turkmenistan: a country with more than 5 million inhabitants (out of which nearly 90% are Muslims), much natural gas and oil (and much poverty), a lifelong dictator (self-proclaimed “Turkmenbashi”, which means “Father of all Turkmen”) and a “holy book” written by the latter, Ruhnama, studied in schools and meant to challenge the Koran. Hard to believe, but some of the largest multinational corporations, which should champion democracy and human rights, finance the translation of this absurd book in tens of languages, thus encouraging the survival of one of the harshest dictatorial regimes on Earth. Director Arto Halonen, together with journalist and lawyer Kevin Frazier explain the apparently paradoxical situation in a fascinating and at the same touching time investigation documentary, which takes us from Finland, through Russia, Turkey, Austria, Germany, France, Sweden, the Czech Republic, USA, and, of course, Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan: o ţară cu peste 5 milioane de locuitori (dintre care aproape 90% musulmani), cu rezerve bogate de gaze naturale şi petrol (dar şi multă sărăcie), cu un dictator pe viaţă (autoproclamat „Turkmenbashi”, adică „părintele tuturor turkmenilor”) şi cu o „carte sfântă” scrisă de acesta, Ruhnama, studiată în şcoli şi menită să rivalizeze cu Coranul. Greu de crezut, însă câteva dintre cele mai mari companii multinaţionale, care ar trebui să fie campioni ai democraţiei şi ai drepturilor omului, finanţează traducerea acestei aberante opere de propagandă în zeci de limbi, încurajând astfel menţinerea unuia dintre cele mai dure regimuri totalitare ale planetei. Regizorul Arto Halonen, sprijinit de jurnalistul şi avocatul Kevin Frazier, explică situaţia aparent paradoxală într-un documentar de investigaţie captivant şi cutremurător totodată, care ne poartă din Finlanda prin Rusia, Turcia, Austria, Germania, Franţa, Suedia, Cehia, SUA, ajungând, desigur, şi în Turkemenistan.

ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL 2009

Programming / Programare
Tuesday 27 - Hall A - 17h15 / Marti 27 - Sala A - 17h15
Saturday 31 - Hall B - 17h00 / Sâmbătă 31 - Sala B - 17h00

Films in Europa Competition / Filme in Competitie - Europa
AGAINST BLOOD JUSTICE , Nathalie Rossetti & Turi Finocchiaro, France
ALYOSHA , Meelis Muhu, Estonia
AT HOME ANYWHERE , Judith Vrerinks, The Netherlands
BACK PASSING , Jaro Vojtek, Slovakia
BERLIN, KREUZBERG 36 , Angeliki Aristomenopoulou, Greece
THE FLOWER BRIDGE , Thomas Ciulei, Romania
IVETKA AND THE MOUNTAIN , Janecek Vit, Czech Republic
LOOK AT THE LIFE THROUGH MY EYES , Marija Dzidzeva, Croatia
LOST IN TRANSITION , Thom Vander Beken, Belgium
LOST WORLD , Gyula Nemes, Hungary
MY CLASS - FROM RUSSIA WITH RELATIVITY , Ekaterina Eremenko, Germany
PEACE FOR ALL , Elizabeta Koneska, Macedonia
PEOPLE DREAMS ACTIONS , Andreas Stiglmayr, Germany
ROUGE NOWA HUTA , Blandine Huk & Frederic Cousseau, France
SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK , Arto Halonen, Finland
SINGING , Rossella Schillaci, Italy
SOUL , Marina Anedda, Italy
YOU LIVE AND BURN , Iiris Harma, Finland

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

film screenings

AFF09 Film Program (.pdf)

Mo.26 | Tu.27 | We.28 | Th.29

Fr.30 | Sa.31 | Su.01

events

Mo.26 - Su.01

FILM ARCHIVE

ASTRA FILM manages an extensive documentary film collection with public screening facilities. The ASTRA FILM archive started in 1990, and it has collected since thousands of documentaries produced in over 70 countries.

Due to our focus on the Eastern European and Romanian production, the ASTRA FILM archive holds a unique collection of documentaries documenting the issues of post-communism and transition in the region.