In 1990 Mongolia’s socialist system ended, a process preceded by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and followed by the collapse of the USSR one year later in 1991. During this period Mongolia transitioned from a centrally planned, one party state to a free market democracy governed by a semi-presidential and parliamentary system. The process of transition included economic shock therapy. In the film industry this involved downsizing Mongolkino’s operations. Artists, engineers, technicians, and workers at this organization, who previously worked in accordance with the requirements of a centrally planned economy, were reduced to freelance artists in a competitive film market. As a result Mongolia’s film industry experienced a history of free decline as industrial equipment and assets were transferred from the state to the market. The country’s thriving film and entertainment network – which between 1940 and 1990 produced 160 feature films, more than 1,000 documentaries, and developed more than 600 movie theaters in urban and rural areas of Mongolia – collapsed.