The villagers of Ghod, Romania, are the poor souls whose miserable existences were lampooned in Borat by Sascha Baron-Cohen. When Borat Came to Town questions the integrity of Baron-Cohen and gives a true insight to the people of Ghod, who were duped into thinking that Baron-Cohen was filming a real documentary, and who were subsequently pretty shocked and hurt by what they saw.

As seen in Borat, the remains of cars are something that are mounted on top of carts here and dragged around by horses. It’s also a place without running water where the locals shower in buckets and have to take their clothes down to a stream to wash. It’s definitely not somewhere you can get to on EasyJet. It’s a forgotten corner of the world where the people have little to no chance of ever improving their lot.

When Borat Comes to Town focuses on the lives of one family, and in particular, 17-year-old Carmen and her father Ion, who is something of a leader in the village. He runs, what appears to be, the only shop and he was responsible for bringing cable TV to the village. The local men watch it in his shop-come-pub, where they get tanked and have very little by way of entertainment.

The well spoken and attractive Carmen understands that there is more to life than this; she was raised by intelligent parents and got to watch the outside world via cable televised soap operas. She realises that she has different expectations to other villagers, including her parents, and is confused as to what to do. She’s already being labeled an “old cow” by some in the village because she didn’t get married at 15 or 16, like most girls are expected to.

The locals are angry at being portrayed as idiots in Borat, and can’t understand the injustice at having not received a single cent for their embarrassment or hospitality. The film asks the viewer whether it was fair to take advantage of their naivete for self profit and to mock and laugh at their poor lifestyle.

I find myself torn. I can understand their shame and desire for a piece of the pie, yet, I thought Borat was funny and can see how the town offered Baron-Cohen some irresistable comic material. Afterall, the Romanian government is responsible for these people’s situations, not Baron-Cohen himself. But what would be a cool million be to Baron-Cohen? Why not send it the way of the villagers of Ghod? as a way of saying thanks for being good sports.

The villagers’ hopes of getting a share of the profits are raised when slick lawyers roll into town and tell Carmen’s father that they can sue Baron-Cohen for $30 million. Carmen’s father has plans to use the money to fix the town and bring running water to its houses, but ultimately the people of Ghod get screwed a second time, when the lawyers stop returning their calls when the lawsuit falters.

Life is indeed spectacularly unfair for some. That part is definitely not funny.

When Borat Came To Town is out now through Madman DVD.