US superstar
Angelina Jolie,
whose recent directorial debut dealt with the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, arrived here today as a special guest of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Jolie is to be made an honorary citizen of Sarajevo during her stay, an honour that was announced in April for her part in “keeping the truth about wartime events in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Hercegovina alive”.
Jolie’s film “In the Land of Blood and Honey” — shot in 2010 with several actors from the former Yugoslavia and premiered in 2011 — dealt with the issues of war crimes committed during the war. While the project initially sparked concern in Bosnia, once it was shown most victims’ organisations welcomed it saying it had been objective and sincere.
Jolie arrived without her fiancee Brad Pitt but with at least three of their children on board a private plane at Sarajevo’s airport around 1400 GMT (1930 IST), an AFP photographer said. She was also due to attend a workshop for young film artists on the sidelines of the 18th Sarajevo Film Festival.
The Sarajevo Film Festival, born as an act of resistance when the Bosnian capital was under siege during the 1992-1995 war, has has grown to be one of the largest in Europe. (AFP)