Kazakhstan warms to Borat

Borat, played by Sacha Baron Cohen

Kazakhstan's cultural ministry has found something to laugh at in Borat, a film based on the travels of a fictional misogynistic, anti-Semitic Kazakh journalist, calling it "funny" and saying its real target was the United States.

"The film above all mocks American manners and rural people and their intellect," Culture and Information Minister Ermukhamet Ertysbayev said.

"Paradoxically, after the film's release, we have seen a more ardent and avid interest in Kazakhstan," he said.