Bondi Beach is globally recognised as an iconic Australian location, but today it was transformed from Kaftans to Kazakhstan as it was re-branded ‘Borat Beach’ in celebration of Friday’s premiere of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in Australia and over 200 countries and territories around the globe.
In an event which will no doubt go down as one of the proudest days in recent Kazakhstan/Australian diplomatic relations and which Kazakhstani media compared to the French people’s gift of the Statue of Liberty to New York City 134 years ago, a Kazakhstani-military helicopter delivered a 6m sculpture of the country’s most famous reporter, Mr Borat Sagdiyev, clad only in the American flag at Bondi’s Marks Park. The generous (socially distant and in Bondi for 24 hours) gift to Australia will no doubt go a long way to filling the void left by the cancellation of the 2020 Sculpture by the Sea, a yearly festival which has been cancelled this year due to COVID-19.
Australia’s renowned love affair with all things Kazakhstan was on full display, with the beach awash in the country’s flags, as Bondi muscle men shared their workout park with moustachioed Borat look-a-likes, proud mask-clad Kazakhstanis rode up and down the Pavilion on Segways and a Borat-inspired (socially distanced) yoga class was a show-stopping spectacle on the sand, followed by surfing lessons which provided a chance to wet the moustache and cool off.
Borat himself beamed in, live from Kazakhstan, for a virtual press conference with the excited Australian media.
Borat Sagdiyev said, “Jagshemash, it give me great pleasure to present you with this giant Borat erection at Bondi Beach. This statue was quarantine in a hotel in Melbourne for 14 days; it is free of COVID, but probably have syphilis after four of your security guards make sexytime with it. I have new moviefilm coming out tomorrow, I think you will enjoy it more than Rudolph Giuliani will. Or as you guys call him, Cockadile Dundee, yes?”
The sculpture will remain at Marks Park until 11am on Friday, 23 October.
Exclusively on Amazon Prime Video
Directed by Jason Woliner
Written by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham &
Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern
Produced by Sacha Baron Cohen, Monica Levinson and Anthony Hines
Executive Produced by Buddy Enright, Nicholas Hatton, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Stuart Miller
Starring Sacha Baron Cohen & Irina Nowak
