Belgrade: Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut about a love story between a Serbian policeman and his rape victim has met with sharp criticism among Bosnian Serbs who said the work was biased and anti-Serb.
The movie In the Land of Blood and Honey set during the 1992-95 Balkan war has received critical acclaim in the US.
The film is slated to be premiered in Serbia and the Serb-populated part of Bosnia in May, and Jolie has said she would like to attend the screening.
Authorities have turned down a request by some war veterans’ organisations to ban the film.
Jolie — who is a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees — has also been exposed to a barrage of criticism from the press and calls for a boycott to “show her she isn’t welcome” in the country.
Serbian websites have been flooded with pictures allegedly showing Jolie in pornographic acts before she became a celebrity.
The pictures are reportedly accompanied with comments like “once a prostitute – always a prostitute”.
Internationally acclaimed Serbian film director Emir Kusturica has declined to comment on Jolie’s film, calling her a “propagandist” not a filmmaker. (IANS)
