Angelina Jolie’s Directing Debut ‘In The Land of Blood and Honey’ To Be Released in Bosnian Language

Well, it worked for Mel Gibson in The Passion of The Christ, didn’t it?

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, FilmDistrict is releasing In The Land of Blood and Honey, a film that has been written, directed, and produced by superstar actress Angelina Jolie.  What you are probably unaware of is that Jolie shot the film twice — once in English and once in the Bosnian language (technically called Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian or, more accurately, Bosanski/Hrvatski/Srpski since it consists of those three languages), as the film chronicles a love story set during the Bosnian War (1992-1995).  Jolie, of course, initially believed that American distributors (not to mention distributors outside of Southern Europe) would likely not pick up the film unless it was in English despite her preference to maintain it in its original language, but happily she has been proven wrong: Deadline reports that FilmDistrict has agreed to release the film in its B/H/S edition with English subtitles in the United States after viewing both versions.  Other territories will be decided on a case-by-case basis, though it’s likely the English version will see some sort of release after the initial

Deadline describes the film as “The drama is set in the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s. The film tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kostic) and Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), Bosnians from different sides of the brutal ethnic war. As the conflict takes hold of their lives, the relationship between them changes, their motives and  connection to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. The couple demonstrates the emotional, moral and physical toll that war takes on individuals, and the consequences stemming from the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.”  Sounds like a modern, more vicious Romeo and Juliet story.

The film, featuring a cast of Southern European actors (most of whom are virtually unknown in the United States) is set for a December 23 release.