A pair of low budget mockumentaries that follow a bumbling Kazakh reporter on his adventures across America don’t sound like the kind of movies that typically make a dent during awards season, but both of Sacha Baron Cohen’s outings as Borat have managed to find huge levels of critical and commercial acclaim.
Cohen has snagged the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for both Borat and sequel Subsequent Moviefilm, while the latter also won in the Best Picture – Musical or Comedy category this year having lost out the first time around. Not only that, but yesterday’s Academy Award nominations have put the mustachioed journalist in some seriously esteemed company.
Breakout star Maria Bakalova made the shortlist for Best Supporting Actress, while the film itself is up for Best Adapted Screenplay. That makes Borat just the third movie series in history to have its first two installments nominated for writing Oscars, putting it alongside The Thin Man and After the Thin Man, as well as The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
Not only that, but Borat Subsequent Moviefilm has now set a record for the most writers ever credited on a screenplay nominated for an Academy Award. The previous best was seven, held by Toy Story, but Amazon’s smash hit comedy sequel has nine scribes being honored, with Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern and Nina Pedrad all listed in the credits.
Once again, we’re back living in a world where Borat is the star of an Academy Award nominated movie, while Cohen also picked up an acting nod, although it was for his supporting role in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7.
