The Shadow of the Holy Book
Will Ross
HR: None

The Shadow of the Holy Book is a window into the corrupt world of doing business in Turkmenistan, a poor country ruled by (until 2006) iron-fisted Saparmurat Niyazov. Niyazov cemented his power further by publishing the “Ruhnama”, a ‘holy’ book that meshed aspects of Islam, Niyazov’s life, and a warped concept of Turkmen history in order to encourage a cult following behind Niyazov, commonly referred to as Turkmenbashi, father of the Turkmen.
In order to win lucrative contracts, multinational corporations would curry favor by translating and publishing the “Ruhnama” in their own languages and some (John Deere) went so far as to have “Ruhnama” t-shirts, coffee mugs, and a website dedicated to its sale. The filmmakers travel around the world, demanding answers and atonement from these companies that made millions off a country whose people are in near-constant poverty.
Yet despite the wealth of intrigue and mysticism, the film’s message against corporate greed and cult iconicism is overshadowed by the filmmakers’ nagging questions and Michael Moore-esque dialogue, more annoying than productive. However, through all of this, the theme of human rights before profits is still clear. Not one representative of any of these corporations chose to talk to the filmmakers, save for one Finnish CEO who alone provided the moral light in the darkness that is commerce in Turkmenistan.
The death of Niyazov midway through filming throws the perfect wrench into the film, which is able to capture the transition to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. While initially hopeful, it becomes apparent that the death of Niyazov will not bring lasting change to the country, where one figurehead is simply replaced by another. Indeed, the release of Berdimuhamedow’s own book, while not explicitly religious in nature, is nothing more than his very own “Ruhnama”, as children are taught to memorize and intern his book as they were the “Ruhnama”.
Overall the film was eye-opening, not in terms of the breadth of corruption in Turkmenistan or the cult following its leaders have possessed, but in how incredibly self-centered and irritating budding filmmakers can be when things don’t go their way. No doubt a product of Michael Moore’s incessant nagging, the film ends up obscuring its true goal by focusing on how hard it is to make a documentary as opposed to contacting the companies it seeks to interview any other way besides their press office.

Xinjiang Policy Assessment
Will Ross
HR: Website articles

“The aim of our institute is to prepare respected and authoritative religious leader that can lead the 12 million Muslims in Xinjiang in the right direction. If we lack such religious leaders, the extremists could make use of religion by distorting the Quran and incite Muslims to into terror attacks. But so far, we are still in shortage of such high-level and respected religious leaders”

“Since the founding of the institute 28 years ago, we have just around 700 graduates so far. But when the new campus is completed by 2017, we will have a total of 1,000 students learning at one time, which means that each year, we will see over 200 students graduate as educated, high-level Muslim religious leaders.”

I am a Uyghur and a Muslim. I become an Imam when I was 28. I was born in Xinjiang’s Shanshan county. I work for the Chinese government running the Xingjian Islamic Institute and am a Deputy in the National People’s Congress since 2013. I recently met with President Xi Jinping who said, “I hope religious leaders like Abudulrekep Tumniaz can keep people away from extremism”. I believe that religious extremism is a political, not a religious, issue. I believe that many protests, while religious slogans and banners may be used, are in many times simply using religion as a vehicle in part due to the intertwined nature of religion and Uyghur culture. I also believe that while Uyghur muslims may carry out terror attacks, it is not a result of their religion or ethnicity. I also believe that religious extremists are to blame for such attacks because no true muslim would do such a thing. My Xinjiang Islamic Institute is meant to shepherd followers towards the right path. Our goal is to put out respected and authoritative religious leaders, of which there is a current shortage. We must actively fight against the misinterpretation of the Quran because it supports extremist views. Our country of China has the best religious policy in the world. People in Xinjiang may choose to follow whatever religion they want.

I think the right policy path should be the one we are currently on. I think increased funding to the Xinjiang Islamic Institute is the appropriate path towards exterminating extremism. I believe that increasing the number of government Imams in the border regions, specifically near Pakistan, will also reduce extremism. In recent years trade with Pakistan has increased the number of “devout” muslims in the Xinjiang areas near the borders. This only fuels Wahhabist Islam, which is extremist Islam. Yet I believe men should be allowed to wear beards and women should be permitted to wear head scarves should they choose to do so. I also believe that Muslim shops should not be forced to sell alcohol and cigarettes and I would like to discourage hosting beer festivals immediately before Ramadan. I would also like the ban on fasting for government employees, teachers, and students during the month of Ramadan lifted. I would also ignore all of these for the sake of my own career.

The Light Thief
Will Ross
HR: None

The Light Thief is a simple yet ultimately complex tale centered around the character known as Mr. Light, a man responsible for hacking utility meters in order to provide electricity for those in his village who cannot afford it. The movie begins with his arrest for doing so and the subsequent light-hearted scolding he gets from his friend Esen, the mayor of the village, who believes what Mr. Light is doing is just but must still see him fired from his job. Worried for his family’s financial future with three daughters and an unemployed husband, Mr. Light drinks heavily with his friend Mansur, a relative of a rich man named Bekzat who is intent on establishing himself as the most powerful businessman in the village. It is Bekzat who then offers Mr. Light a job building windmills to generate electricity for the town, a project reliant on funding from a delegate of Chinese investors. Appalled by the raucous belly dancing and sex acts about to be performed for the Chinese investors by the granddaughter of his neighbor, Mr. Light lashes out at Bekzat and the Chinese, fleeing from the meeting. His subsequent beating and murder, upon which the film closes, is a grim reminder of the realities faced by many villagers if they fail to comply with the directions of local muscle.

The film is an eye-opening portrayal of village life in Kyrgyzstan, whose bleak landscape is offset by colorful personalities and quirky events. Yet the grandest theme by far is one of Khans and Quams. In one of the very first scenes Esen demands a cigarette from one of his lackeys whose immediate compliance reflects the existence of pyramid hierarchies in all levels of life, even in a rural village. Bekzat is the amalgamation of the “new”, flush with city money and eager to return to his roots, aided by a posse of enforcers. The help of his relative Mansur, whose local ties help garner support for Bekzat’s plans, rewards Mansur with an endorsement for mayor by Bekzat, whose money and influence will most certainly result in Mansur’s appointment. The granddaughter of the grandmother Mr. Light helps and her sexcapades, are also indicators of clashing ideals where a girl, no doubt driven by the desire to better her life, quells her misgivings in the hope for a new path. When Mr. Light is shocked by the transformer during his drunk misadventure, fueled by his emotional rant over his inability to father a son, Mansur buries him in a folkish ritual intended to save him from the afterlife, representing the “layering” of traditions in a historically rich region. Yet at the end the influx of these modern principles and concepts did not save Mr. Light from the same brutality that one might have faced in the same village a thousand years ago.

Myn Bala

Will Ross

HR: None

Myn Bala is best described as the Kazakhstani Braveheart, yet without Mel Gibson as an anchor, the film is left floating in the realm of a poorly acted but interesting piece of historical fiction. Beginning with the destruction of a village at the hands of Dzungar warriors, it follows three Kazakhstani children (Sartai, Taimas, and Korlan) as they deal with the loss of the land and parents, forced to live in the mountains, no the steppes of their ancestors. Although its narrow scope prevented it from being a true contender for the Academy Awards, the final battle scene and the death of Taimas ensured that the entire film was not entirely predictable.

Sponsored by the Kazakhstani government as a commemoration of 20 years of post-Soviet independence combined with a huge (for Kazakhstan) budget of approximately $12 million, Myn Bala is a perfect example of Kazakhstan’s attempt to create a historical narrative of nationalism where one has not existed before. The scene prior to the final battle, where Sartai asks all of his warriors from where they came to fight, exemplifies the lack of true Kazakhstani patriotism prior to the ethnogenesis carried out by the Soviet government. The cries of men are not in unison, but shouts of regional clans and locations that, while all within modern-day Kazakhstan, show that true bonds where with family units and not with some concept of national identity.

Yet the movie does an excellent job of capturing Kazakh culture and values with its subplot of Sartai’s infatuation with a neighboring Khan’s daughter. Watching the seating arrangements throughout the movie clearly illustrated the concepts discussed in class. Yet for all the good, the bad outnumbered it. Cheesy plot lines showing Kazakh forgiveness from Sartai to Korlan to Sartai’s death as he brought down the battle standard of the Dzungars hurt the true value of this film as a window into the life of nomads living on the steppes during that time period.