Kazakhstan is striking back. Five years after Sacha Baron Cohen portrayed it as a place of slack-jawed, sister-marrying thugs, its film industry is producing what it styles "the real Borat story."

WASHINGTON - As her father catnapped at her side, Deanna Torstenson's heart pounded and her body trembled. She fixed her eyes on the tiny airplane moving across a video screen on the seat back in front of her. Slowly, it approached Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Soon, for the first time, she would set eyes on the woman who had given birth to her.

As her father catnapped at her side, Deanna Torstenson?s heart pounded and her body trembled. She fixed her eyes on the tiny airplane moving across a video screen on the seat back in front of her. Slowly it approached Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Soon, for the first time, she would set eyes on the woman who had given birth to her. Read full article >>

ALMATY - Kazakhstan this week canceled, then re-authorised, elections in a remote oil town where recent riots stemming from a long-running oil workers strike left at least 16 dead and more than 40 buildings burned.

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival will screen many films that consider the transformative power of music. Like film, music can build tension, introduce thematic threads, and, above all, tell stories through notes and words.