Serb distributor refuses to show Jolie war movie
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The sole film distributor in the Serb-run part of Bosnia says Serbs have no interest in seeing Angelina Jolie's movie set during the Bosnian war, so he won't be screening it.
Vladimir Ljevak said Monday that "In the Land of Blood and Honey" would not attract an audience, as it portrays Serbs as the bad guys.
A small group of Muslim Bosniaks who have returned to their homes in the Serb part of the country say instead they plan to organize private screenings.
Ms. Jolie's drama about a Serb soldier who finds his ex-lover, a Muslim Bosniak woman, among sex slaves in a camp is set to make its full debut in Sarajevo today and will be shown in theaters in the Bosniak-Croat part of Bosnia.
Mr. Ljevak said he has seen the film and described it as "lousy."
Ms. Jolie said Monday she hopes the film will provoke a wider discussion about rape -- something that the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said could be extremely valuable in helping bring perpetrators to justice.
"I believe these strong issues deserve to be presented in a very strong direct light," Ms. Jolie, who was in Berlin for the Berlin International Film Festival, told a small group of reporters.
"It's a strange thing to say as a director and a filmmaker, but I want people to be very uncomfortable when they watch it, and they should be upset and they should want some intervention, and they should want it to stop and they should be angry."
First Published February 14, 2012 12:00 am
