A bit of celebrity gossip and dazzle today. Major celebrity at that. Angelina Jolie no less. Causing all sorts of media storms in Bosnia right now.
Ms. Jolie has just started directing her first film, set in Bosnia during the 1992-95 conflict. So far so good. Only her story is rumoured to be about a love story between a Bosnian Muslim woman and a Serb guard in a camp in Eastern Bosnia (which were notorious for systemic rape throughout the conflict).
My goodness me, has this opened a can of worms in Bosnia. Ms Jolie's permission to film in Bosnia has been withdrawn following protests from organisations of women war victims, offended by the implication that a woman would fall in love with her rapist and concerned that it trivialises and misrepresents their experiences during the war. Government officials say that they have withdrawn permission because there has not been a script submitted. Ms. Jolie says that the story does not in fact contain a rape element but is an apolitical love story between 2 people from different groups during a war, a sort of Romeo and Juliet if you like, and that she has submitted a script in accordance with the law. Other womens organisations claim that the ones who have protested do not speak for all female victims of the war and in actual fact what this kerfuffle is about is the ability to show who has political influence and political influence in Bosnia is everything. As with many issues in Bosnia the debate has highlighted current political and social issues, most of which are the same as they have been for since the end of the conflict.
Welcome to working in Bosnia, where nothing is straightforward and no dealing with any bureaucracy can ever be expected to run smoothly, even if you are the UN Goodwill Ambassador who has made recent trips to Bosnia in that capacity (and may I take this opportunity to note that if you are planning to film in Bosnia in Autumn 2010, then making a UN trip in April 2010 would be a fantastic way to show that you are serious about helping the country, hopefully encouraging the politicians who flocked to be photographed with you would work to ensure the smooth running of your next, business, visit)*.
Anyway, I hope that the film gets made, but with sensitivity to the women who did suffer appallingly during the war which was only 16 years ago. Bosnia has a great reputation for making films (if you haven't seen the most famous Bosnian film No Man's Land then make sure you do so immediately). Rumour has it that the permission to film has been reinstated, but I'll be waiting for the future dramas that are inevitably going to arise.
*should take the opportunity to mention that in my opinion celebrity trips to 'highlight the plight' of a country are utter codswallop. Which of you remembers Brangelina in Bosnia earlier this year (question excludes Bosnians and Bosnia watchers - you already know of Bosnia's issues and don't need them highlighted anyway)?
(Anyone in reading more about this story should read the 23 Oct Guardian article, Balkan Insight and what AFP have to say.)
PS whilst I'm on a bit of a rant - I'm taking massive issue with Boris Johnson's comments about a Kosovo style social cleansing of central London due to the Government's plan to impose a £400 a week rent cap for housing benefit. There are many issues with the proposals, but I don't think that, at any point, is the UN going to be thinking of sending in a protection force. To compare the two trivialises what happened during the 'ethnic cleansing' in the Balkans. In Bosnia alone more than 1 million people became refugees in a period of three years, and that figure doesn't include the numbers killed across the country (estimated to be in the region of 250,000 during the whole conflict). It is not the same thing at all.