Back to the future for Turkmen as decade-long cinema ban ends

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

ASHGABAT (AFP) — Perhaps too late for this year's hot Oscar nominations, but the people of Turkmenistan are to be allowed back into cinemas for the first time in a decade, the country's president said Sunday.

Just over a year on from the death of dictator Saparmurat Niyazov -- known for the gold statues of himself he erected as part of an elaborate personality cult in the gas-rich state -- circus shows, opera and even local libraries are also heading back onto the Turkmen cultural agenda.

"I propose to breathe life back into the lyrical arts in this country," said current President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. "It is regrettable to see there are no good cinemas in Ashgabat.

"Cinema houses are currently used for other purposes, and a complete renovation is...