Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow ascended to the presidency upon Niyazov's death in December, 2006. Restoration of old classics began and unused cinema halls were refurbished back. In 2007, the film-studio was reinstated and renamed after Oghuz Khagan; an international film festival was held at Ashgabat in 2008. Film production was resumed (circa 2010) with state patronage. Kerim Annanov directed a short film Autumn in 2009. In August 2010, Berdimuhamedow urged Turkmentelekinofilm to establish cooperation with major film companies of the world, and create a new movie about Turkmenistan. A 3D theater was opened in 2011 and another two in 2012; a 3D film was produced, as well. Films of other countries are being screened regularly since around 2010, as are old Turkmen classics; state-owned TV channels broadcast them as well. In 2012, a film was produced on Golden Age Lake at Berdimuhamedow's request. On the occasion of the eighth Eurasia International Film Festival at Almaty, artistic director Gulnara Abikeyeva noted that she did not receive any film from Turkmenistan and while film-making had recently resumed in Turkmenistan, it was limited to historical themes. In 2013, a feature was produced. In 2015, another feature was produced chronicling a young engineer employed in the construction of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway. In 2016, a law was passed that laid down parameters on deeming films as "national" (or not) and accordingly, promote and conserve them on behalf of the state; creative freedom was however guaranteed in all cases. In 2017, a feature film was produced about Turkmen's fondness of breeding horses. In 2020, three feature films were produced on the 25th anniversary of Turkmenistan vouching at the UN to maintain neutrality in all political conflicts; another was made on a book written by Berdimuhamedow. See also List of Turkmenistan films Cinema of Central Asia Further reading Primary sources and film-reels can be obtained from The Central State Archive of Cinema and Photo Documents. However, the institution routinely denies access-requests even from scholars of film studies. Notes References