‘Jolie film helps explain Bosnian War’
SARAJEVO - Anatolia News Agency
Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ tells a love story during the Bosnian War. ABACA photo
The events of the Bosnian war of the 1990s will be better understood thanks to the directorial debut of Angelina Jolie, which focuses on the issue, the movie’s female lead has said.My high school friends came to see the film and told me they knew what had happened during the Bosnian war,” Zana Marjanovic said following a premiere for “In the Land of Blood and Honey” in New York, where the Bosnian actress grew up. “The experiences in the war will be better understood thanks to this film.”
Marjanovic also expressed her gratitude for being able to work with Jolie during a visit Turkey’s culture and promotion consul in Sarajevo.
“She realizes everything she wants to do as a person and as an actress. I have played in a very serious and a real film. It was great honor to meet Jolie and work with her,” Marjanovic told Anatolia news agency, adding that Jolie gave her and her colleagues inspiration.
Marjanovic plays Bosniak woman Ajla in the film about the Bosnian war.
During her visit to Sarajevo Culture and Promotion Consultant Dr. Cengiz Aydın, Marjanovic thanked him for Turkey’s support to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the cultural and social fields. She also said Jolie would come to Sarajevo with her family in mid-February to attend the film’s premier.
She said that after the film’s premiere on Jan. 12, U.S. President Barack Obama had invited Jolie, Brad Pitt and herself into his Oval Office. “I was very excited during the meeting with Obama, but I found the opportunity to tell him about the situation in Bosnia. He listened to me patiently,” she said.
As for Turkish cinema, Marjanovic said Turkish films were shown in the annual Sarajevo Film Festival and were much enjoyed.
“In the Land of Blood and Honey” depicts a love story set against the background of the Bosnian War. It tells the story of Danijel, a soldier fighting for the Bosnian Serbs, and Ajla, a Bosniak woman he was involved with before the war but who is now a captive in the camp he oversees.
