First Look: Angelina Jolie's Directorial Debut, Land of Blood & Honey

Posted on Fri Oct 21st, 2011 10:30am PDT By X17 Staff

At long last, we finally get a sneak peek at Angelina Jolie's controversial directorial debut, In the Land of Blood & Honey.

The romantic drama centers on a Serbian man (Goran Kostic) who falls in love with a Bosnian-Muslim woman (Zana Marjanovic) before 1992's Bosnian War separates them, and it's set to hit theaters December 23.

The Oscar winner, who also wrote the film, recently expressed: "I wanted to tell a story of how human relationships and behavior are deeply affected by living in side a war ... The cast was extraordinary. I was privileged and honored to work with them and I am very excited for everyone to see their immense talent."

Jolie filmed two versions of the movie, one in English, the other in the native Serbo-Croatian. And rather than choosing seasoned A-listers, the actress hand-picked local unknowns in the area to fill the coveted roles.

Could Blood & Honey earn the first-time director her second Academy Award?

Angelina received a lot of resistance from rape victims from the 1992 conflict, who filed complaints with the United Nations Refugee Agency to end the actress's film before she could finish. The actress told the media of the drama: "There are many twists in the plot that address the sensitive nature of the relationship between the main characters, and that will be revealed once the film is released ... My hope is that people will hold judgment until they have seen the film. Obviously, any dramatic interpretation will always fail those who have had a real experience."