العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolBORAT
:''This article refers to the Sacha Baron Cohen character "Borat." For the movie, see .''
'Borat Sagdiyev' (Kazakh and Russian: Борат Сагдиев) is a fictional Kazakh journalist portrayed by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. He is the eponymous protagonist of the mockumentary ''. Humor is often derived from Borat's taboo social and cultural viewpoints, deadpan behavior, repeating phrases, overexaggerated "third-world" status, and physical humor.
Baron Cohen had played an unnamed foreign reporter with identical looks and very similar mannerisms as part of BBC Two's ''Comedy Nation'' in the mid-1990s. By the late 1990s he had developed this character into Borat. Borat's first appearance was on the BBC in 1998,[1] and by late 2000 Borat was, in his own words, "great success". 20th Century Fox has stated that a sequel to the popular movie is currently under consideration.[2][3]
Borat Sagdiyev is said to have been born on July 30, 1972 in the fictional village of Kuzcek, Kazakhstan, to Asimbala Sagdiyev and Boltok the Rapist (who is also stated to be his maternal grandfather). He has a 13-year-old son named Hooeylewis and 12-year-old twin boys, named Biram and Bilak, as well as 17 grandchildren. He has an older sister, Natalya (who he says is the number four prostitute in Kazakhstan) and a younger brother, Bilo who is mentally retarded. It is also revealed that he has two wives as well as a mistress, a girlfriend, and a prostitute with whom he has had affairs on several occasions.
Borat is shown to have been married several times, after first having been betrothed to his half-sister's plough while in his teens. His first wife, Oksana, was said in the ''Borat'' film to have been raped and killed by a bear while taking his brother Bilo for a walk in the forest. Borat was not negatively affected by this tragedy; he thanks the man who brought him the "good news", and on the contrary, the movie shows that he celebrated his new-found freedom by pursuing Pamela Anderson and eventually marrying Luenell, an African-American prostitute he met while filming his documentary.
In his fictional, professional life, Borat is a journalist and presenter on Kazakh television. According to various in-character interviews given by Sasha Baron-Cohen, Borat attended Astana University, where he studied English, journalism, and plague research. During this time, he created five new plagues which he says "killed over 5 million goats in Uzbekistan."[4] Prior to this he worked as an ice maker, animal sperm retriever, gypsy catcher and the person who removes dead birds from a computer.[5]
Borat was nominally pagan for most of his life. However, in the film he attends a Pentecostal church service and later converts his village neighbors to Christianity.
Borat greatly admires the political views of Joseph Stalin, saying that both he and Stalin are strong and have powerful "khram" (penis). He is strongly against women's rights and was especially stunned upon learning of women's suffrage. In his spare time, he enjoys playing ping pong, sunbathing in a green mankini, disco dancing, spitting, sitting on comfortable chairs, and taking pictures of unsuspecting women while they "make-a-toilet".
Borat is shown in each episode of ''Da Ali G Show'', doing satirical interviews with often-unwitting subjects in the United Kingdom and the United States. The segment was shot in low-quality video to keep a satirical feeling of poor quality television (similar to Chanel 9 segments on ''The Fast Show''). Of Ali G, Borat says on his website, "I appear on Alee G shows — He idiot, but it give me lot of muney — I like ..."
The Borat segments on ''Da Ali G Show'' use the rock-rendition Russian folk tune "Korobeiniki" as their theme song for the UK version.
Shown as part of a six part Ali G show originally on Channel 4 (UK) in March 2000.
Five Borat sketches were shown, guides to Etiquette, Hunting, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Henley. The guides to English Gentleman, Politics and Sport were also filmed at this time but released at a later date as part of Ali G DVDs.
A one off shown on the E4 launch night (UK) in January 2001 known as "The Best of Borat".
Highlights included the guide to Sport and a specially filmed introduction and skits to his family and friends in Kazakhstan (actually Romania).
Shown as part of a six part Ali G show originally on HBO (USA) in February 2003.
Six Borat sketches were shown, guides to Dating, Etiquette, Acting, Men, Baseballs and The (Deep) South. A guide to Animals was filmed but released at a later date as part of an Ali G DVD. Alyssa Greenfill was his co-star.
Shown as part of a six-part ''Ali G Show'' originally on HBO (USA) in July 2004. C4 was the UK channel where Ali G & Borat originally appeared and the series for America was a HBO/C4 co-production.
Six Borat sketches were shown, guides to Wine Tasting, Politics, Country Music, Hobbies, Buying a House and Jobs. A guide to Hunting was filmed but only aired in the UK due to its controversial nature.
Borat had a small role in Baron Cohen's film as a diplomat from Kazakastan ''Ali G Indahouse'', in which he greets Baron Cohen's character Ali G with a hug and kiss, but is rebuffed. He proceeds to call Ali G a "cocksucker". In the end he does a hip-hop duet with superstar Max Allard.
Main articles: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Subtitled ''Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'', the film "Borat" is mockumentary comedy. Most appearances in the film are not paid, but are rather real people whom Borat met during his journey. What's real in Borat? David Marchese and Willa Paskin It was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and directed by Larry Charles. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released across Europe and North America on November 3, 2006.
The film follows Borat in his travels across the United States, as he commits cultural and exposes a few American ones. Over the course of the film, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching a re-run of ''Baywatch,'' and vows to make her his wife.
The film opened at # 1 in the U.S., taking in $26.4 million on a limited release of 837 screens during its first weekend, beating out ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' as the biggest opening weekend for a film released in under 1,000 cinemas. Baron Cohen celebrated the release of the film with a host of promotional 'in-character' interviews.[6]
However, on November 9, 2006 the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography banned the movie, citing "it could offend viewers in relation to certain ethnic groups and religions."
The film expanded its release on the second weekend to 2,566 screens, where it took in an additional $29 million.[7]
In 2007 Baron Cohen won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy".
With a production budget of $18,000,000, the film has grossed $128,501,044 domestically and another $128,848,505 internationally, a total worldwide gross of $257,349,549 by mid-March 2007.[8]
When ostensibly using his native language, Borat speaks neither Kazakh nor Russian (the state and official languages of Kazakhstan), contrary to what would be assumed by the audience and the people with whom he interacts onscreen. Instead, he speaks mainly Hebrew intermixed with some phrases that bear a similarity to Polish and other Slavic languages, such as "jagshemash" and "chenquieh" ("how are you", and, "thank you", respectively). He also occasionally greets people with "den dobre" ("good day"), which is similar to the Polish "dzień dobry" and the Russian "dobriy den" ("добрый день" in Cyrillic).also, Croatian [Dobar Dan]
He also lapsed into Hebrew while purporting to sing the Kazakh national anthem at a Savannah Sand Gnats game. He kept on repeating a famous Hebrew folk song: קום בחור עצל וצא לעבודה (kum bachur atzel ve'tze la'avoda - "get up lazy guy and go to work [...]" ) [...] קוקוריקו קוקוריקו התרנגול קרא (kookooriku kookooriku ha'tarnegol kara) ("cock a doodle do the cock has crowed"), and also called Kazakhstan a distant/desolate place (literally "hole" (חור)(''hor'')).
:''See also Da Ali G Show: Controversy''
A number of commentators have argued that the film's portrayal of the people of Kazakhstan is unfair and unjustified.[9]
In August 2004, the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, addressing an international religious conference in Brussels, stated that in 10 years in the country he had never faced a single case of anti-Semitism. He praised the Government of Kazakhstan for its treatment of the Jewish community.
On October 19, the Associated Press reported that Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Rakhat Aliyev, had invited Cohen to visit Kazakhstan and see how inaccurate his portrayals were. In an interview, Aliyev asserted that:
Borat's movie has frequently been accused of promoting antiziganism. The scenes supposedly filmed in Borat's Kazakh village were actually filmed in an impoverished Roma village of Glod in Romania. ''USA Today'' reports that poverty-stricken villagers were offered between $3.30 and $5.50 to bring animals into their houses and perform other acts some critics called humiliating.[10] The studio contends that
participants were paid double the rate recommended by the Romanian film office for extras. Villagers to sue 'Borat' Bojan Pancevski
Two villagers of Glod have hired the reparation attorney Ed Fagan to sue the makers of the film for $30 million for human rights abuses. Fagan intends to submit lawsuits in New York and Florida state courts, as well as in Frankfurt, Germany.. Fagan said that he hoped to "teach Hollywood a very expensive lesson." The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a hearing in early December 2006 on the ground that the charges were too vague to stand up in court. Fagan plans to refile.[11]
The character has elicited some controversy, mostly related to his frequent displays of anti-semitism and anti-zionism.
Baron Cohen, who is himself Jewish, has explained his character's racism by stating that the segments are a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry," rather than a display of racism by Baron Cohen himself.[12] "Borat essentially works a tool. By himself pretending to be anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice," Cohen explains to ''Rolling Stone''. The Man Behind The Mustache Cohen, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, says he wishes in particular to expose the role of indifference in that genocide:
Regarding the enthusiastic response to his song "In My Country There is Problem" (detailed below), he says, "Did it reveal that they were anti-Semitic? Perhaps. But maybe it just revealed that they were indifferent to anti-Semitism."
However, the Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that “...combat[s] anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds”, complained to HBO after Borat performed a country western song titled "In My Country There Is Problem" that called on people to 'throw the Jew down the well', warning them that 'you must be careful of his teeth' and that 'you must grab him by his horns', to applause and participation from some members of an audience in Tucson, Arizona. The full chorus goes: "Throw the Jew down the well/So my country can be free/You must grab him by his horns/Then we have a big party."[13][14]
In another scene, Borat visits the Serengeti Range ranch in Texas, where the owner of the ranch confides that he believes the Holocaust was a necessity for Germany. He further implies that he would have no problem running a ranch where people can hunt, in Borat's words, "deer... then Jew."
Another scene involves his decision to avoid flying while in America. Borat says that his colleague "insists we not fly in case the Jews repeated their attack of 9/11".
An interview with James Broadwater, an evangelical Christian and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Mississippi, caused Broadwater to receive some hateful emails after an episode of ''Da Ali G Show'' aired in which Broadwater stated that Jews will go to Hell. He was told that the interview would be played in foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Broadwater later posted a letter on his website denouncing ''Da Ali G Show,'' explaining that his statement referred to a theological belief that anyone that "accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will spend eternity in Heaven, while everyone who rejects Him will spend eternity in Hell." Broadwater did not apologise for his comments. Instead, he insisted that "the liberal, anti-God media needs to be brought under the strict control of the FCC, and that as soon as possible."[15]
In the film, Borat continues his anti-Semitic stance, such as when he finds himself in a bed and breakfast run by an old Jewish couple, he tries to "escape", and throws money at two cockroaches that have crawled into his room, apparently fearing that the Jewish owners have shapeshifted into cockroaches. Ironically, Borat is completely oblivious to his hosts' religious beliefs when he first encounters them, despite the immediate evidence: the man wears a kippah and the woman openly displays her paintings of Jewish people all over the house, but Borat does not understand until the woman explicitly tells him "I'm Jewish."
Cohen later joked, upon receiving a British comedy award, that Borat was guest of honour at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran.
In January 2005, after convincing the authorities that he was shooting a documentary, Cohen managed to infuriate a crowd at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia. The crowd first cheered his statements of "support" for the Iraq war, including statements like "We support your war of terror", "May George Bush drink the blood of every single man, woman, and child of Iraq". However, the applause softened when he exclaimed "May you destroy their country so that for the next thousand years, not even a single lizard will survive in their desert!" The crowd then got infuriated when he sang the (fictional) Kazakhstan national anthem to an off-key version of the US national anthem.[16]
"If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him," said one witness. "People were booing him, flipping him off." For his own safety, Cohen was escorted from the venue. Much of the event appears in the movie.[17] A credulous news report about the incident, aired on a local television station, is included in the DVD extras.
Baron Cohen has also been accused of creating a derogatory image of Kazakhs.[18]
In November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry voiced its concerns about the character. Spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference: "We view Mr Cohen's behaviour at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with the ethics and civilised behaviour of Kazakhstan's people", concluding "We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind."[19]
Baron Cohen has since posted a video on the "Official Borat Homesite" where Borat responds to Ashykbayev in character. In the video, Borat states, in part:
Reuters quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as saying "They (the Government of Kazakhstan) are damned if they do [respond] and damned if they don't," he said. "It's sort of unfortunate that he hit upon Kazakhstan." Another unnamed source inside Kazakhstan's Washington embassy called Borat a "one-man diplomatic wrecking ball."[21] Move Over Archie Bunker, , Tom, Price, ,
The next week, the government hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, and ran a four-page advertisement in ''The New York Times''. The advert carried testimonials about the nation's democracy, education system and the power and influence enjoyed by women. On a previous occasion, Borat responded to such official complaints by issuing his own "press release", which consisted of randomly arranged Cyrillic characters. He would make another response when promoting his movie in front of the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, roundly denouncing the advertisements as "Uzbek propaganda".[22]
On December 13 2005, the right to use the domain name www.borat.kz was suspended, and the site attached to it was closed down.[23] The domain-issuing body said that they took this action since false names were given for the site's administrators, and also because the site www.borat.kz was hosted outside Kazakhstan. However, the stated underlying cause of the action was in order to censor the content of the site: "We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name," Nurlan Isin, President of the Association of Kazakh IT Companies, told Reuters. "He can go and do whatever he wants at other domains." Bush to hold talks on Ali G creator after diplomatic row, , , , Daily Mail, 2006
Reporters Without Borders petitioned the ICANN ombudsman to intervene and reverse this decision.[24] Meanwhile, the "Official Borat Homesite" was moved to the .tv domain, where it remains. As of March 20, 2007, the former domain name was still suspended. The 2006 annual human rights report released by the US State Department cited the loss of the .kz website as evidence of the Kazakh government's efforts to curb free speech.[25]
Borat has, however, recently been defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and daughter of Kazakhstan`s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. She stated on a national news programme ''Karavan'' that Baron Cohen's website "damaged our image much less than its closure, which was covered by all global news agencies," and "We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think." , , , , CBC, 2006
On September 28 2006, Baron Cohen appeared in character as Borat at the White House gates to give a press conference and invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of his forthcoming film, along with "O.J. Simpson", "Melvin Gibsons" and other "American dignitaries", after which they would join him for drinks at Hooters. Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers would not admit him on to the grounds. The apparent publicity stunt was likely timed to coincide with an official visit by President Nazarbayev the following day.[26]
On October 18, 2006, European Centre for Antiziganism Research,[27] which pleads against discrimination of Gypsies, filed a complaint[28] with prosecutors based on Borat's comments about Gypsies in his film. The complaint accuses him of defamation and inciting violence against the ethnic group.[29]
At a press conference just hours before the live broadcast of the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, he shocked local and international journalists in Lisbon, Portugal by bringing a bag of birds from Romania (the first European country to detect avian influenza) as a gift, then proceeded to say he was sorry that they had all died.
WAPT (Jackson, Mississippi) TV news producer Dharma Arthur states in ''Newsweek'' she lost her job as a result of her booking Borat on a local afternoon news program. At the time of the appearance, she was unaware of Baron Cohen's act. During an interview with anchor Brad McMullan, Borat made sexual and scatological references, kissed McMullan, and later disrupted a live weather report.[30] She said: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did... I spiralled into depression, and... was released from my contract... It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure... How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius."
The broadcast, including the initial interview, the disrupted weather report, and several behind-the-scenes shots made by Borat's own film crew, is seen in the ''Borat'' movie.
However, not all hoax victims threaten to sue. Behind-the-scenes interviews with Randall Shelley (Guide to Baseball), Danny Passmore (Guide to Hobbies USA), Jennifer Defrancisco/Charles Di Cagno (Guide to Acting), Ken Goldberg (Guide to Being a Real Man) and Peta Heskell (Guide to English Gentlemen) have all decided not to sue.[31]
★ The state prosecutor in Hamburg, Germany, filed a complaint against Mr Cohen, accusing him of slander, inciting violence against the Sinti and Roma Gypsy groups, and violating Germany's anti-discrimination law.[32]
★ Two fraternity men featured in the movie have filed an anonymous complaint against corporations and persons affiliated with Mr Cohen in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, for fraud, rescission of contract, common law false light, statutory false light, appropriation of likeness, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.[33] One of the plaintiffs has been revealed as Justin Seay, a graduate of the University of South Carolina and former Vice President of the Chi Psi Fraternity.[34] On December 11 2006, an L.A. Judge denied the pair a restraining order to remove them from the film.[35]
★ Cindy Streit, the owner of Etiquette Training Service in Birmingham, Alabama, has claimed mistreatment and fraud after "Borat" attended a dinner party and subjected her and the other guests to "ridicule and humiliation". Ms. Streit has hired attorney Gloria Allred, who is demanding an investigation by the California attorney general. Allred says her client agreed to be filmed as part of a documentary for Belarus television, and for those purposes only. She is asking the attorney general to consider all appropriate relief, including a percentage of the profits from the film. 20th Century Fox denied the claims and stated that there was nothing in writing about only being shown in Belarus; they also asserted that the release form clearly stated the footage could be distributed worldwide.[36]
★ According to a January 2007 report by the Associated Press, Israeli comedian Dovale Glickman plans to sue Cohen for copyright infringement of the phrase "Wa wa wee Wa." Glickman originated the phrase 16 years ago as part of his Israeli comedy show, "Zehu Zeh."[37]
★
In the 2007 film ''Epic Movie'', Danny Jacobs plays a rip-off of Borat at the end of the film, and repeats the "NOT!" joke used in ''.
The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre has produced a parody of Borat, although in this case, he is from Bunzakhstan (a parody of Kazakhstan).
★ Zlad! - A similar, Australian character.
★ Mahir Çağrı - A similar, real character.
★ List of Boratisms
★ Gogol Bordello - A band that sounds extremely similar to Borat singing.
1. http://celebs.electronicnewsnetwork.com/sacha-cohen/ The History of Borat] from Electronic News Network
2. BBC News
3. TV Guide
4. When CNN's Becky met Borat
5. Borat's Career and Skills
6. Borat interview
7. Movie Borat
8. [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=borat.htm Boxofficemojo page on Borat's earnings
9. xymphora Borat: the modern cloak of prejudice
10. Now Romanians say 'Borat' misled them
11. "NYC Judge Questions Viability Of Villagers' 'Borat' Lawsuit"
12. "Borat" satire turns to farce at Toronto festival
13. http://www.adl.org/media_watch/tv/20040809-hbo.htm
14. http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/4898_00.htm
15. http://www.webgeordie.co.uk/borat/broadwater.htm
16. Review: Review: 'Borat' is most excellent comedy CNN, November 6, 2006
17. "Rodeo in Salem gets unexpected song rendition", ''The Roanoke Times'', January 9, 2005.
18. Is Borat racist? Dominic Knight
19. "Kazakhstan on Borat: Not Nice", Josh Grossberg, E! Online, November 14, 2005.
20. http://www.borat.tv/response.htm
21. [1], Reuters, November 11, 2005. [Link broken]
22. "Borat denounces Uzbek propaganda" College Humor
23. "Kazakhstan Strips Borat of Site", Sarah Hall, E! Online, December 13, 2005. A different version of this article was formerly available on Reuters.
24. "Reporters Without Borders raps censorship of UK comedian's "Borat" website" Reporters Without Borders online press release, issued December 14, 2005.
25. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070307/film_nm/rights_usa_borat_dc
26.
27. http://www.ezaf.org/en/ezaf/1.html
28. PDF file, in German
29. Now Gypsies want Borat banned, Sydney Morning Herald, October 18, 2006.
30. Dharma and … Borat? A 'Victim' Complains Roger Friedman
31. Behind the scenes
32. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/01/061101190142.n43n2q02.html
33. http://cdn.digitalcity.com/tmz_documents/110906_borat_wm.pdf
34. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1113061borat1.html
35. "L.A. judge sides with 'Borat' against frat boys" December 11 2006, Reuters
36. Court TV
37. "Sacha Baron Cohen to Be Sued, Again [2]
★ Unofficial Borat site, semi-official site that has documented Borat since 2000
★ Unofficial Borat, Bruno and Ali G site, useful information and a lot of videos..
★
★ Video interview with Borat on Movies.com
★ The Borat Soundboards
★ Borat 2?
★ NPR Fresh Air Interview of Sacha Baron Cohn
★ Interview with Dan Mazer about Borat, Producer of Da Ali G Show on April 23, 2003 on boratonline.co.uk
★ "Did Ali G Go Too Far?" on August 13, 2004 in ''The Jewish Week''
★ "The Borat Doctrine" posted September 13, 2004 in ''The New Yorker''
★ "'Ali G' Comedian Riles Rodeo Crowd" on January 14, 2005 on ''CBS News''
★ "No Joke" by Kenneth Neil Cukier on December 28, 2005 in ''Foreign Affairs'', on what the removal of the Borat site from the .kz domain portends for the administration of the global domain name system
★ Borat on Gotuit Video
★ And Now for the World According to Borat and Sacha Baron Cohen
★ "Borat in Paris" on October 9, 2006
★ "Offensive and unfair, Borat's antics leave a nasty aftertaste" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on October 4, 2006 in ''The Guardian''
★ "Behind the Schemes", Newsweek, October 16, 2006 (profiling several people who became unwitting Borat punch lines)
★ "Borat vs. Kazakhstan", brandchannel, October 30, 2006 (discusses Borat's affect on Westerners' perception of Kazakhstan)
★ "Mahir to Borat: I Sue You!", Wired, November 2006 (Q&A with Borat look-a-like Mahir Cagri)
★ "New Borat Book Contains 100 Photos of Naked Kazakhstan Women", Russian Spy, November 2006
★ "We survived Stalin and we can certainly overcome Borat's slurs" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on November 4, 2006 in ''The Times''
'Borat Sagdiyev' (Kazakh and Russian: Борат Сагдиев) is a fictional Kazakh journalist portrayed by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. He is the eponymous protagonist of the mockumentary ''. Humor is often derived from Borat's taboo social and cultural viewpoints, deadpan behavior, repeating phrases, overexaggerated "third-world" status, and physical humor.
Baron Cohen had played an unnamed foreign reporter with identical looks and very similar mannerisms as part of BBC Two's ''Comedy Nation'' in the mid-1990s. By the late 1990s he had developed this character into Borat. Borat's first appearance was on the BBC in 1998,[1] and by late 2000 Borat was, in his own words, "great success". 20th Century Fox has stated that a sequel to the popular movie is currently under consideration.[2][3]
Fictional biography
Borat Sagdiyev is said to have been born on July 30, 1972 in the fictional village of Kuzcek, Kazakhstan, to Asimbala Sagdiyev and Boltok the Rapist (who is also stated to be his maternal grandfather). He has a 13-year-old son named Hooeylewis and 12-year-old twin boys, named Biram and Bilak, as well as 17 grandchildren. He has an older sister, Natalya (who he says is the number four prostitute in Kazakhstan) and a younger brother, Bilo who is mentally retarded. It is also revealed that he has two wives as well as a mistress, a girlfriend, and a prostitute with whom he has had affairs on several occasions.
Borat is shown to have been married several times, after first having been betrothed to his half-sister's plough while in his teens. His first wife, Oksana, was said in the ''Borat'' film to have been raped and killed by a bear while taking his brother Bilo for a walk in the forest. Borat was not negatively affected by this tragedy; he thanks the man who brought him the "good news", and on the contrary, the movie shows that he celebrated his new-found freedom by pursuing Pamela Anderson and eventually marrying Luenell, an African-American prostitute he met while filming his documentary.
In his fictional, professional life, Borat is a journalist and presenter on Kazakh television. According to various in-character interviews given by Sasha Baron-Cohen, Borat attended Astana University, where he studied English, journalism, and plague research. During this time, he created five new plagues which he says "killed over 5 million goats in Uzbekistan."[4] Prior to this he worked as an ice maker, animal sperm retriever, gypsy catcher and the person who removes dead birds from a computer.[5]
Borat was nominally pagan for most of his life. However, in the film he attends a Pentecostal church service and later converts his village neighbors to Christianity.
Borat greatly admires the political views of Joseph Stalin, saying that both he and Stalin are strong and have powerful "khram" (penis). He is strongly against women's rights and was especially stunned upon learning of women's suffrage. In his spare time, he enjoys playing ping pong, sunbathing in a green mankini, disco dancing, spitting, sitting on comfortable chairs, and taking pictures of unsuspecting women while they "make-a-toilet".
''Da Ali G Show''
Borat is shown in each episode of ''Da Ali G Show'', doing satirical interviews with often-unwitting subjects in the United Kingdom and the United States. The segment was shot in low-quality video to keep a satirical feeling of poor quality television (similar to Chanel 9 segments on ''The Fast Show''). Of Ali G, Borat says on his website, "I appear on Alee G shows — He idiot, but it give me lot of muney — I like ..."
The Borat segments on ''Da Ali G Show'' use the rock-rendition Russian folk tune "Korobeiniki" as their theme song for the UK version.
Guide to Britain
Shown as part of a six part Ali G show originally on Channel 4 (UK) in March 2000.
Five Borat sketches were shown, guides to Etiquette, Hunting, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Henley. The guides to English Gentleman, Politics and Sport were also filmed at this time but released at a later date as part of Ali G DVDs.
Borat Special
A one off shown on the E4 launch night (UK) in January 2001 known as "The Best of Borat".
Highlights included the guide to Sport and a specially filmed introduction and skits to his family and friends in Kazakhstan (actually Romania).
Guide to USA 1
Shown as part of a six part Ali G show originally on HBO (USA) in February 2003.
Six Borat sketches were shown, guides to Dating, Etiquette, Acting, Men, Baseballs and The (Deep) South. A guide to Animals was filmed but released at a later date as part of an Ali G DVD. Alyssa Greenfill was his co-star.
Guide to USA 2
Shown as part of a six-part ''Ali G Show'' originally on HBO (USA) in July 2004. C4 was the UK channel where Ali G & Borat originally appeared and the series for America was a HBO/C4 co-production.
Six Borat sketches were shown, guides to Wine Tasting, Politics, Country Music, Hobbies, Buying a House and Jobs. A guide to Hunting was filmed but only aired in the UK due to its controversial nature.
Ali G Indahouse
Borat had a small role in Baron Cohen's film as a diplomat from Kazakastan ''Ali G Indahouse'', in which he greets Baron Cohen's character Ali G with a hug and kiss, but is rebuffed. He proceeds to call Ali G a "cocksucker". In the end he does a hip-hop duet with superstar Max Allard.
The "Movie Film"
Borat, promoting his film at the 2006 ComicCon in San Diego, California.
Main articles: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Subtitled ''Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'', the film "Borat" is mockumentary comedy. Most appearances in the film are not paid, but are rather real people whom Borat met during his journey. What's real in Borat? David Marchese and Willa Paskin It was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and directed by Larry Charles. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released across Europe and North America on November 3, 2006.
The film follows Borat in his travels across the United States, as he commits cultural and exposes a few American ones. Over the course of the film, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching a re-run of ''Baywatch,'' and vows to make her his wife.
The film opened at # 1 in the U.S., taking in $26.4 million on a limited release of 837 screens during its first weekend, beating out ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' as the biggest opening weekend for a film released in under 1,000 cinemas. Baron Cohen celebrated the release of the film with a host of promotional 'in-character' interviews.[6]
However, on November 9, 2006 the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography banned the movie, citing "it could offend viewers in relation to certain ethnic groups and religions."
The film expanded its release on the second weekend to 2,566 screens, where it took in an additional $29 million.[7]
In 2007 Baron Cohen won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy".
With a production budget of $18,000,000, the film has grossed $128,501,044 domestically and another $128,848,505 internationally, a total worldwide gross of $257,349,549 by mid-March 2007.[8]
Language
When ostensibly using his native language, Borat speaks neither Kazakh nor Russian (the state and official languages of Kazakhstan), contrary to what would be assumed by the audience and the people with whom he interacts onscreen. Instead, he speaks mainly Hebrew intermixed with some phrases that bear a similarity to Polish and other Slavic languages, such as "jagshemash" and "chenquieh" ("how are you", and, "thank you", respectively). He also occasionally greets people with "den dobre" ("good day"), which is similar to the Polish "dzień dobry" and the Russian "dobriy den" ("добрый день" in Cyrillic).also, Croatian [Dobar Dan]
He also lapsed into Hebrew while purporting to sing the Kazakh national anthem at a Savannah Sand Gnats game. He kept on repeating a famous Hebrew folk song: קום בחור עצל וצא לעבודה (kum bachur atzel ve'tze la'avoda - "get up lazy guy and go to work [...]" ) [...] קוקוריקו קוקוריקו התרנגול קרא (kookooriku kookooriku ha'tarnegol kara) ("cock a doodle do the cock has crowed"), and also called Kazakhstan a distant/desolate place (literally "hole" (חור)(''hor'')).
Criticism and controversy
Borat sings a song about "children" at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards.
:''See also Da Ali G Show: Controversy''
Criticized as unfair smear against Kazakhstan
A number of commentators have argued that the film's portrayal of the people of Kazakhstan is unfair and unjustified.[9]
In August 2004, the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, addressing an international religious conference in Brussels, stated that in 10 years in the country he had never faced a single case of anti-Semitism. He praised the Government of Kazakhstan for its treatment of the Jewish community.
On October 19, the Associated Press reported that Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Rakhat Aliyev, had invited Cohen to visit Kazakhstan and see how inaccurate his portrayals were. In an interview, Aliyev asserted that:
His trip could yield a lot of discoveries -- that women not only travel inside buses but also drive their own cars, that we make wine from grapes, that Jews can freely attend synagogues and so on.
Denigration of Gypsies
Borat's movie has frequently been accused of promoting antiziganism. The scenes supposedly filmed in Borat's Kazakh village were actually filmed in an impoverished Roma village of Glod in Romania. ''USA Today'' reports that poverty-stricken villagers were offered between $3.30 and $5.50 to bring animals into their houses and perform other acts some critics called humiliating.[10] The studio contends that
participants were paid double the rate recommended by the Romanian film office for extras. Villagers to sue 'Borat' Bojan Pancevski
Two villagers of Glod have hired the reparation attorney Ed Fagan to sue the makers of the film for $30 million for human rights abuses. Fagan intends to submit lawsuits in New York and Florida state courts, as well as in Frankfurt, Germany.. Fagan said that he hoped to "teach Hollywood a very expensive lesson." The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a hearing in early December 2006 on the ground that the charges were too vague to stand up in court. Fagan plans to refile.[11]
Denigration of Jews
The character has elicited some controversy, mostly related to his frequent displays of anti-semitism and anti-zionism.
Baron Cohen, who is himself Jewish, has explained his character's racism by stating that the segments are a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry," rather than a display of racism by Baron Cohen himself.[12] "Borat essentially works a tool. By himself pretending to be anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice," Cohen explains to ''Rolling Stone''. The Man Behind The Mustache Cohen, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, says he wishes in particular to expose the role of indifference in that genocide:
When I was in university, there was this major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw, who said, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.' I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic.
Regarding the enthusiastic response to his song "In My Country There is Problem" (detailed below), he says, "Did it reveal that they were anti-Semitic? Perhaps. But maybe it just revealed that they were indifferent to anti-Semitism."
However, the Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that “...combat[s] anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds”, complained to HBO after Borat performed a country western song titled "In My Country There Is Problem" that called on people to 'throw the Jew down the well', warning them that 'you must be careful of his teeth' and that 'you must grab him by his horns', to applause and participation from some members of an audience in Tucson, Arizona. The full chorus goes: "Throw the Jew down the well/So my country can be free/You must grab him by his horns/Then we have a big party."[13][14]
In another scene, Borat visits the Serengeti Range ranch in Texas, where the owner of the ranch confides that he believes the Holocaust was a necessity for Germany. He further implies that he would have no problem running a ranch where people can hunt, in Borat's words, "deer... then Jew."
Another scene involves his decision to avoid flying while in America. Borat says that his colleague "insists we not fly in case the Jews repeated their attack of 9/11".
An interview with James Broadwater, an evangelical Christian and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Mississippi, caused Broadwater to receive some hateful emails after an episode of ''Da Ali G Show'' aired in which Broadwater stated that Jews will go to Hell. He was told that the interview would be played in foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Broadwater later posted a letter on his website denouncing ''Da Ali G Show,'' explaining that his statement referred to a theological belief that anyone that "accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will spend eternity in Heaven, while everyone who rejects Him will spend eternity in Hell." Broadwater did not apologise for his comments. Instead, he insisted that "the liberal, anti-God media needs to be brought under the strict control of the FCC, and that as soon as possible."[15]
In the film, Borat continues his anti-Semitic stance, such as when he finds himself in a bed and breakfast run by an old Jewish couple, he tries to "escape", and throws money at two cockroaches that have crawled into his room, apparently fearing that the Jewish owners have shapeshifted into cockroaches. Ironically, Borat is completely oblivious to his hosts' religious beliefs when he first encounters them, despite the immediate evidence: the man wears a kippah and the woman openly displays her paintings of Jewish people all over the house, but Borat does not understand until the woman explicitly tells him "I'm Jewish."
Cohen later joked, upon receiving a British comedy award, that Borat was guest of honour at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran.
Iraq war sarcasm
In January 2005, after convincing the authorities that he was shooting a documentary, Cohen managed to infuriate a crowd at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia. The crowd first cheered his statements of "support" for the Iraq war, including statements like "We support your war of terror", "May George Bush drink the blood of every single man, woman, and child of Iraq". However, the applause softened when he exclaimed "May you destroy their country so that for the next thousand years, not even a single lizard will survive in their desert!" The crowd then got infuriated when he sang the (fictional) Kazakhstan national anthem to an off-key version of the US national anthem.[16]
"If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him," said one witness. "People were booing him, flipping him off." For his own safety, Cohen was escorted from the venue. Much of the event appears in the movie.[17] A credulous news report about the incident, aired on a local television station, is included in the DVD extras.
Conflicts with Kazakhstan's government
Baron Cohen has also been accused of creating a derogatory image of Kazakhs.[18]
In November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry voiced its concerns about the character. Spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference: "We view Mr Cohen's behaviour at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with the ethics and civilised behaviour of Kazakhstan's people", concluding "We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind."[19]
Baron Cohen has since posted a video on the "Official Borat Homesite" where Borat responds to Ashykbayev in character. In the video, Borat states, in part:
In response to Mr. Ashykbayev's comments, I'd like to state I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my government's decision to sue this Jew. Since the 2003 Tuleyakiv reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel on ''inside'' of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight years old. Please, captain of industry; I invite you to come to Kazakhstan where we have incredible natural resources, hardworking labour, and some of the cleanest prostitutes in whole of Central Asia. Goodbye! Dzienkuje![20]
Reuters quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as saying "They (the Government of Kazakhstan) are damned if they do [respond] and damned if they don't," he said. "It's sort of unfortunate that he hit upon Kazakhstan." Another unnamed source inside Kazakhstan's Washington embassy called Borat a "one-man diplomatic wrecking ball."[21] Move Over Archie Bunker, , Tom, Price, ,
The next week, the government hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, and ran a four-page advertisement in ''The New York Times''. The advert carried testimonials about the nation's democracy, education system and the power and influence enjoyed by women. On a previous occasion, Borat responded to such official complaints by issuing his own "press release", which consisted of randomly arranged Cyrillic characters. He would make another response when promoting his movie in front of the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, roundly denouncing the advertisements as "Uzbek propaganda".[22]
On December 13 2005, the right to use the domain name www.borat.kz was suspended, and the site attached to it was closed down.[23] The domain-issuing body said that they took this action since false names were given for the site's administrators, and also because the site www.borat.kz was hosted outside Kazakhstan. However, the stated underlying cause of the action was in order to censor the content of the site: "We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name," Nurlan Isin, President of the Association of Kazakh IT Companies, told Reuters. "He can go and do whatever he wants at other domains." Bush to hold talks on Ali G creator after diplomatic row, , , , Daily Mail, 2006
Reporters Without Borders petitioned the ICANN ombudsman to intervene and reverse this decision.[24] Meanwhile, the "Official Borat Homesite" was moved to the .tv domain, where it remains. As of March 20, 2007, the former domain name was still suspended. The 2006 annual human rights report released by the US State Department cited the loss of the .kz website as evidence of the Kazakh government's efforts to curb free speech.[25]
Borat has, however, recently been defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and daughter of Kazakhstan`s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. She stated on a national news programme ''Karavan'' that Baron Cohen's website "damaged our image much less than its closure, which was covered by all global news agencies," and "We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think." , , , , CBC, 2006
White House "visit"
On September 28 2006, Baron Cohen appeared in character as Borat at the White House gates to give a press conference and invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of his forthcoming film, along with "O.J. Simpson", "Melvin Gibsons" and other "American dignitaries", after which they would join him for drinks at Hooters. Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers would not admit him on to the grounds. The apparent publicity stunt was likely timed to coincide with an official visit by President Nazarbayev the following day.[26]
Complaint by Gypsies in Germany
On October 18, 2006, European Centre for Antiziganism Research,[27] which pleads against discrimination of Gypsies, filed a complaint[28] with prosecutors based on Borat's comments about Gypsies in his film. The complaint accuses him of defamation and inciting violence against the ethnic group.[29]
Avian Flu "Gift"
At a press conference just hours before the live broadcast of the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, he shocked local and international journalists in Lisbon, Portugal by bringing a bag of birds from Romania (the first European country to detect avian influenza) as a gift, then proceeded to say he was sorry that they had all died.
Victims of Borat hoaxes
WAPT (Jackson, Mississippi) TV news producer Dharma Arthur states in ''Newsweek'' she lost her job as a result of her booking Borat on a local afternoon news program. At the time of the appearance, she was unaware of Baron Cohen's act. During an interview with anchor Brad McMullan, Borat made sexual and scatological references, kissed McMullan, and later disrupted a live weather report.[30] She said: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did... I spiralled into depression, and... was released from my contract... It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure... How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius."
The broadcast, including the initial interview, the disrupted weather report, and several behind-the-scenes shots made by Borat's own film crew, is seen in the ''Borat'' movie.
However, not all hoax victims threaten to sue. Behind-the-scenes interviews with Randall Shelley (Guide to Baseball), Danny Passmore (Guide to Hobbies USA), Jennifer Defrancisco/Charles Di Cagno (Guide to Acting), Ken Goldberg (Guide to Being a Real Man) and Peta Heskell (Guide to English Gentlemen) have all decided not to sue.[31]
Litigation
★ The state prosecutor in Hamburg, Germany, filed a complaint against Mr Cohen, accusing him of slander, inciting violence against the Sinti and Roma Gypsy groups, and violating Germany's anti-discrimination law.[32]
★ Two fraternity men featured in the movie have filed an anonymous complaint against corporations and persons affiliated with Mr Cohen in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, for fraud, rescission of contract, common law false light, statutory false light, appropriation of likeness, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.[33] One of the plaintiffs has been revealed as Justin Seay, a graduate of the University of South Carolina and former Vice President of the Chi Psi Fraternity.[34] On December 11 2006, an L.A. Judge denied the pair a restraining order to remove them from the film.[35]
★ Cindy Streit, the owner of Etiquette Training Service in Birmingham, Alabama, has claimed mistreatment and fraud after "Borat" attended a dinner party and subjected her and the other guests to "ridicule and humiliation". Ms. Streit has hired attorney Gloria Allred, who is demanding an investigation by the California attorney general. Allred says her client agreed to be filmed as part of a documentary for Belarus television, and for those purposes only. She is asking the attorney general to consider all appropriate relief, including a percentage of the profits from the film. 20th Century Fox denied the claims and stated that there was nothing in writing about only being shown in Belarus; they also asserted that the release form clearly stated the footage could be distributed worldwide.[36]
★ According to a January 2007 report by the Associated Press, Israeli comedian Dovale Glickman plans to sue Cohen for copyright infringement of the phrase "Wa wa wee Wa." Glickman originated the phrase 16 years ago as part of his Israeli comedy show, "Zehu Zeh."[37]
★
In popular culture
In the 2007 film ''Epic Movie'', Danny Jacobs plays a rip-off of Borat at the end of the film, and repeats the "NOT!" joke used in ''.
The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre has produced a parody of Borat, although in this case, he is from Bunzakhstan (a parody of Kazakhstan).
See also
★ Zlad! - A similar, Australian character.
★ Mahir Çağrı - A similar, real character.
★ List of Boratisms
★ Gogol Bordello - A band that sounds extremely similar to Borat singing.
Notes and references
1. http://celebs.electronicnewsnetwork.com/sacha-cohen/ The History of Borat] from Electronic News Network
2. BBC News
3. TV Guide
4. When CNN's Becky met Borat
5. Borat's Career and Skills
6. Borat interview
7. Movie Borat
8. [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=borat.htm Boxofficemojo page on Borat's earnings
9. xymphora Borat: the modern cloak of prejudice
10. Now Romanians say 'Borat' misled them
11. "NYC Judge Questions Viability Of Villagers' 'Borat' Lawsuit"
12. "Borat" satire turns to farce at Toronto festival
13. http://www.adl.org/media_watch/tv/20040809-hbo.htm
14. http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/4898_00.htm
15. http://www.webgeordie.co.uk/borat/broadwater.htm
16. Review: Review: 'Borat' is most excellent comedy CNN, November 6, 2006
17. "Rodeo in Salem gets unexpected song rendition", ''The Roanoke Times'', January 9, 2005.
18. Is Borat racist? Dominic Knight
19. "Kazakhstan on Borat: Not Nice", Josh Grossberg, E! Online, November 14, 2005.
20. http://www.borat.tv/response.htm
21. [1], Reuters, November 11, 2005. [Link broken]
22. "Borat denounces Uzbek propaganda" College Humor
23. "Kazakhstan Strips Borat of Site", Sarah Hall, E! Online, December 13, 2005. A different version of this article was formerly available on Reuters.
24. "Reporters Without Borders raps censorship of UK comedian's "Borat" website" Reporters Without Borders online press release, issued December 14, 2005.
25. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070307/film_nm/rights_usa_borat_dc
26.
27. http://www.ezaf.org/en/ezaf/1.html
28. PDF file, in German
29. Now Gypsies want Borat banned, Sydney Morning Herald, October 18, 2006.
30. Dharma and … Borat? A 'Victim' Complains Roger Friedman
31. Behind the scenes
32. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/01/061101190142.n43n2q02.html
33. http://cdn.digitalcity.com/tmz_documents/110906_borat_wm.pdf
34. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1113061borat1.html
35. "L.A. judge sides with 'Borat' against frat boys" December 11 2006, Reuters
36. Court TV
37. "Sacha Baron Cohen to Be Sued, Again [2]
External links
★ Unofficial Borat site, semi-official site that has documented Borat since 2000
★ Unofficial Borat, Bruno and Ali G site, useful information and a lot of videos..
★
★ Video interview with Borat on Movies.com
★ The Borat Soundboards
★ Borat 2?
Articles
★ NPR Fresh Air Interview of Sacha Baron Cohn
★ Interview with Dan Mazer about Borat, Producer of Da Ali G Show on April 23, 2003 on boratonline.co.uk
★ "Did Ali G Go Too Far?" on August 13, 2004 in ''The Jewish Week''
★ "The Borat Doctrine" posted September 13, 2004 in ''The New Yorker''
★ "'Ali G' Comedian Riles Rodeo Crowd" on January 14, 2005 on ''CBS News''
★ "No Joke" by Kenneth Neil Cukier on December 28, 2005 in ''Foreign Affairs'', on what the removal of the Borat site from the .kz domain portends for the administration of the global domain name system
★ Borat on Gotuit Video
★ And Now for the World According to Borat and Sacha Baron Cohen
★ "Borat in Paris" on October 9, 2006
★ "Offensive and unfair, Borat's antics leave a nasty aftertaste" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on October 4, 2006 in ''The Guardian''
★ "Behind the Schemes", Newsweek, October 16, 2006 (profiling several people who became unwitting Borat punch lines)
★ "Borat vs. Kazakhstan", brandchannel, October 30, 2006 (discusses Borat's affect on Westerners' perception of Kazakhstan)
★ "Mahir to Borat: I Sue You!", Wired, November 2006 (Q&A with Borat look-a-like Mahir Cagri)
★ "New Borat Book Contains 100 Photos of Naked Kazakhstan Women", Russian Spy, November 2006
★ "We survived Stalin and we can certainly overcome Borat's slurs" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on November 4, 2006 in ''The Times''
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
