Award winning cameraman Gavin Thurston films for BTTP

Gavin Thurston to film in Turkmenistan for Back To The Planet productions.

This coming November Gavin Thurston, an award winning natural history cameraman, is travelling with Simon Williams, producer/director, to this largely unknown territory in Central Asia. For years Turkmenistan has been ruled as a dictatorship and shut off to the western world, however Back To The Planet, in conjunction with the BBC World Service Trust, have been invited to develop a mentoring scheme with the Turkmenistan media.

Turkmenistan is a land of extremes. It is officially the hottest country in the world, but turns bitterly cold in winter. Some areas get only 9-inches of rain a year, yet produce a dazzling rainbow of flowers that cover the sprawling steppes. This region was once ruled by dinosaurs which have left their legacy in thousands of fossilised footprints, the trails of which are longer then anywhere else on earth. From remote rocky mountains to the baking deserts of the Karakum and the rich shores of the Caspian Sea Turkmenistan is a land of extraordinary riches and unique landscapes. It’s stunning vistas and wildlife reflect the unique position it holds as a crossroads between Asia, Europe and Africa.

This is a land where leopards and hyenas hunt the Zebra like Kulan  and where wolves and bears roam in search of the Arkhar – a mountain sheep with scimitar like horns. The Turkmen people themselves are as colourful as the landscape itself.  Their nomadic lives revolve around horses and spectacular horse displays are a way of life for them. Cut off from the Western World for years Back To The Planet have now been given unique access to the country to film its secret wonders.