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LOS ANGELES - Faux documentary film Borat gained more Oscar momentum today as the smash hit about a boorish Kazakh TV journalist was nominated with four other comedies for the 2006 Writers Guild of America Awards.
Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen and three collaborators will vie for best adapted screenplay against the writers of two other comedies, The Devil Wears Prada and Thank You For Smoking, as well as two deadly serious dramas, Little Children and The Departed.
In the category of best original screenplay, Little Miss Sunshine will compete against fellow comedy Stranger Than Fiction and three dramas: the globe-spanning saga Babel, royal family portrait The Queen and the September 11 thriller United 93.
The list comes out less than two weeks before nominations for the Academy Awards, Hollywood's top honours, are announced. The Writers Guild awards are regarded as a key bellwether for a film's Oscar chances, especially in the screenplay categories.
For Cohen's film, fully titled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the WGA nod gives greater legitimacy to a work heralded by many as a breakthrough in the satirical "mockumentary" genre popularised by such films as This Is Spinal Tap.
Chronicling the exploits of the title character's cross-country US road trip, Borat is driven by Cohen's largely unscripted, improvised encounters with ordinary people who become his unsuspecting foils.
The film previously garnered Golden Globe nominations for best comedy and for best actor in a comedy for Cohen.
The Writers Guild Awards will be presented on February 11 in simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles. The Oscars, whose nominations are revealed on January 23, are handed out on February 25.
- REUTERS
