Main Characters of Shadow of the Holy Book

Kevin and Arto

Kevin Frazier and Arto Halonen spend most of the documentary tracking down the Western companies and unearthing the facts of their involvement with the Ruhnama. Halonen is the film’s director and writer; Frazier is the co-writer and a lawyer. They travel around the world in search of the story and the companies’ morals.

Farid and Ruslan Tuhbatullin

Farid is a Turkmen human rights activist and former political prisoner who now lives in Vienna. Farid tries to keep the world focused on the human rights violations in Turkmenistan. Farid also has a son, Ruslan, who has made a series of computer - animated satires about Turkmenistan and Ruhnama, and these satires make periodic appearances in the documentary.

Boris Shikmuradov Junior

His father Boris Shikmuradov Senior who once was Niyazov’s closest ally, debuty and foreign minister of Turkmenistan for more than 10 years. In 2002 he was accused of an assassination attempt against Niazov. He was imprisoned and probably tortured ever since he returned to Turkmenistan. Shikmuradov Jr is a political refugee living in Moscow, desperately trying to find out what happened to his father.