Sarajevo screenings held for Jolie’s film

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Hercegovina - Agence France-Presse

Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, a Bosnian wartime love story which sparked controversy in the country, will be shown in Sarajevo from next week, distributors said yesterday.

The movie, a love story between a Muslim woman and a Serb man, prompted speculation in local media that it was the story of a Muslim rape victim who fell in love with her Serb attacker.

It will be screened twice a day from 22 to 28 December, two months before it officially opens in Europe, the local distributor, Blitz film, said in a statement.

The movie “In the Land of Blood and Honey” which the Hollywood star filmed in 2010 is set against the background of Bosnia’s 1992-1995 inter-ethnic war and features a number of actors from the former Yugoslavia.

Speculation about the film gave rise to angry reactions from some victims’ organizations, including several who have now praised the film after finally seeing it in a private screening earlier this month.
The associations eventually hailed the movie as objective and sincere.

However, an association of Serb victims which did not see the movie condemned it, arguing that if the Muslim victims’ organisaions liked it, it must be “anti-Serb.”

The international preview took place on Dec.er 5 in New York and the movie will open in the US today. It will go on general release in Europe in early February.