Angelina named honorary Sarajevo citizen

Sarajevo - Angelina Jolie, whose recent directorial debut put a spotlight on the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, was named an honorary citizen of Sarajevo on Monday.

Jolie, whose engagement to Brad Pitt was confirmed earlier this month, was honoured for her contribution to "keeping the truth about wartime events in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Hercegovina alive", the regional government said in a statement.

The 36-year-old actress was invited to a 3 May ceremony where she'll be given the charter of an honorary citizen, a county official told AFP.

Controversy

The award is given by the Sarajevo county every year to a foreign national who promotes humanity, democracy and tolerance.

Jolie's film In the Land of Blood and Honey, shot in 2010 with several actors from the former Yugoslavia, premiered in 2011.

It tells a story of a Bosnian Muslim woman and an Orthodox Christian Serb man who have an affair before Bosnia's 1992-1995 war. They meet again when the woman is a prisoner of the Bosnian Serb army unit commanded by her former lover.

The film initially sparked controversy in Bosnia with war victims' groups expressing concern that it would not correctly present their plight.

But the movie has since been hailed by most victims' organisations as being objective and sincere.

Bosnia's war between its Croats, Muslims and Serbs claimed some 100 000 lives. Some 20 000 women were raped during the conflict, according to estimates by local organisations.