In the Land of Blood and Honey (DVD)

In the Land of Blood and Honey

Danijel, a Serb, first meets Ajla, a Bosnian, on the dance floor. Their flirtations are brought to an abrupt end by a bomb attack. Its 1992 and Yugoslavias civil war is raging. All of a sudden, Danijel is a soldier with orders to obey, and Ajla is now a woman who lives in fear of her life. Shortly afterwards Ajla is imprisoned at an internment camp where rape and torture are the order of the day. One of the camps henchmen is Danijel. In order to protect Ajla, who is an artist, he asks her to draw portraits of his comrades-in-arms. At first their relationship is fuelled by passion but before long Ajla realises her powerful position and uses Danijels desire to help other Bosnian women prepare an uprising. Desperate for his Islamic-hating fathers respect, Danijel tries to prove his masculinity to Ajla of all people.

Angelina Jolies directorial debut tells a story that puts a human face on the Balkan war. The plot centres on a struggle for survival, and a conflict on a battlefield where it is no longer possible to distinguish between repression and desire, strategy and feelings.

Source: Berlinale