My Brother, Borat
Template:Multiple issues Template:Infobox film My Brother, Borat was supposed to become a Kazakh dark comedy film written and directed by Erkin Rakishev, as an unauthorised sequel to the 2006 film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, created by the director to address mis-conceptions of Kazakhstan as portrayed in the 2006 film.<ref name="TM1"/><ref name="NYT1"/><ref name="NYDN1"/> The film was scheduled for release in early 2011.<ref name="TNYO1"/><ref name="RFE"/>
Synopsis
My Brother, Borat tells the story of John, an American journalist who, after watching the film Borat, decides to visit Kazakhstan. He ends up meeting BiloTemplate:MdashBorat Sagdiyev's mentally-ill younger brother. The two go to find Borat's fictional home village of Kusek. They discover it to be a modern and well-developed city in another country.
Background
Director Erkin Rakishev did not see the humour intended by the 2006 Borat film, and so decided to create My Brother, Borat as a counterbalance to correct the image of Kazakhstan as a backward country. He stated, "I think it crossed the line. Maybe they just wanted to joke, but they belittled, insulted and mixed us with dirt, they compared us to animals, showed us as barbarians and wild people".<ref name="BBC1"/> Rakishev explained that the Borat film offended the Kazakhstan government to the point of the film being banned in that country.<ref name="NYT2"/> In wishing to address the negative perceptions of Kazakhstan created in the original film, he developed My Brother, Borat as an "image-redressing movie".<ref name="FT1"/> He began initial production on the film after Borat was released in 2006, and abandoned the project due to lack of financing, only recently being able to continue the project,<ref name="NYT1"/><ref name="TNYO1"/> with the assistance of Kazakhstan legislator Bekbolat Tleukhan.<ref name="RFE"/>
Rakishev did shoot controversial scenes, such as one in which the character of Bilo is raped by a donkey and another where an old woman is beating the two main characters with a stick. In denying that such scenes would offend, Rakishev stated, "If it was Borat's brother who raped the donkey then perhaps it would be considered outrageous, but it is the other way round".<ref name="BBC1"/> The director explained that "he would not mind distributing the film in the United States, though there was the matter of possible copyright violation".<ref name="NYT1"/> He has stated that he would welcome a lawsuit, as it would both provide publicity and promote his vision of a proud Kazakhstan.<ref name="TNYO1"/>
References
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