Journalists Without Borders has classified Turkmenistan as the world's third-blackest dictatorship; freedom of expression is suppressed as much only in North Korea and Eritrea.
The country is a tough one for producers of documentary films.
Arto Halonen and his camera crews had to be inventive to get visas to enter the country. Four times they managed to break through the closed borders, and each time it had to be with a different the camera crew. There were times that the filmmakers' lives were actually in danger.
Halonen got his idea for his film after reading an article in Helsingin Sanomat one morning, in which journalist Kaius Niemi and photographer Hannes Heikura reported on their visit to Turkmenistan, and Ruhnama - a perplexing holy book.
Something clicked. Halonen managed to secure finding both in Finland and around the world.
At the IDFA Festival in Amsterdam - known as the Hollywood of documentaries, the film, which shocked viewers, got wings.
So far, it has been sold to almost all parts of Europe, as well as North America, and New Zealand.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 29.2.2008
