Kazakhstan Hearts Borat

Sure, the movie Borat is an inaccurate and unflattering portrayal of Kazakhstan -- or at least we all think it is, since none of us have been there. But before about six months ago, when Borat appeared on the beaches of Cannes, how much time did we spend thinking and talking about Kazakhstan? And so although various Kazakhs complained about the movie prior to its release, it has quickly become clear that (here it comes!) there's no such thing as bad publicity:

In the week since the release of Borat, Roman Vassilenko has been fielding a dozen or so tourism-related calls a day at his office at the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington. Which is a dozen or so more than he usually gets... Kazakh officials, who have found little to laugh at in Cohen's depiction of one of their own, might be lightening up. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity [See?] and this latest flurry is bound to result in a few more Americans differentiating Kazakhstan from all those other "stans" that once were part of the Soviet Union.

That was on Nov. 9. Then earlier this week, there was this:

Kazakhstan's president was prepared with a smile and details of his country's economic progress when journalists asked Tuesday about the less than flattering portrayal of his country in the film Borat... "This film was created by a comedian, so let's laugh at it. That's my attitude," President Nursultan Nazarbayev said. "But there is a positive side of all this. There is a saying that any publicity is good publicity. [Hey!] I think the fact that you have put that question, you now want to learn more, maybe come to Kazakhstan yourself, and I invite you to do so."

And now, finally, this:

A leading Kazakh writer has nominated actor Sacha Baron Cohen for a national award for popularizing Kazakhstan. Novelist Sapabek Asip-uly called on the Kazakh Club of Art Patrons to give Baron Cohen its annual award, according to a letter published by the Vremya newspaper Thursday. Baron Cohen's fictional character Borat "has managed to spark an immense interest of the whole world in Kazakhstan, something our authorities could not do during the years of independence," said Asip-uly.

The articles quoted are here, here and here.