Villagers to refile lawsuit against Borat film

Lawyers representing two Romanian villagers suing the producers of the hit movie Borat said Monday they will refile their lawsuit, after the presiding judge said they must make more specific allegations if they hope to have any success in the case.

Two Romanians from the remote, impoverished village of Glod, located about 140 km northwest of Bucharest, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan.

The plaintiffs allege that movie studio 20th Century Fox and the producers of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan exploited them and other residents of Glod who appeared in the movie as Kazakh citizens.

Borat follows the adventures of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's fictional Kazakh journalist character — a misogynistic, racist boor —as he travels across the United States and mocks Americans during improvised comic encounters.

According to plaintiffs Nicolae Todorache and Spiridom Ciorebea, the producers of Cohen's movie garnered the villagers' co-operation by presenting their crass comedy as a documentary about extreme poverty in Romania.

Defence lawyers argued that the lawsuit did not make a specific enough claim.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska toldthe villagers's lawyerstheymust present specific facts alleging their clients were misled before she could order the defence to turn over documents that could help the villagers build their case.

The Glod lawsuit is but the latest legal actionagainst the film, which has topped $100 million US at the North American box office.

Since the movie's release in early November, several others — including two fraternity brothers depicted in the movie andthe owner of anetiquette business who arranged a dinner party — have filed lawsuits or complaints against Cohen, hisproducers or the movie studio.