“Mr. Sadvakassov, the deputy chairman of the tourism board, hadn’t seen the movie before its premiere, but he said he wasn’t concerned, either. ‘In Covid times, when tourism spending is on hold, it was good to see the country mentioned in the media,’ he said. ‘Not in the nicest way, but it’s good to be out there. We would love to work with Cohen, or maybe even have him film here.'” Joel Stein in the NYT with an amazing turnaround story. Kazakhstan, Reversing Itself, Embraces ‘Borat’ as Very Nice. (Eventually, Rudy will come around too.)