Angelina Jolie backs UK campaign
- 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Angelina Jolie met British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London on Tuesday (May 29), as she backed a new government campaign to fight sexual violence in conflict zones.
The Oscar-winning actress, who is a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees threw her support behind the initiative ahead of a screening of her directorial debut 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' at the foreign office.
Hague said his experiences meeting victims of sexual violence in Bosnia and Rwanda highlighted the importance of fighting such crimes.
Jolie said she was grateful to be part of such an important campaign.
"Although progress has been made there is so much that needs to be done. Today as conflicts rage around the world sexual violence continues to take a terrible toll - no longer can we pretend not to know the grave consequences of our failure to prevent and combat these crimes. We know what the victims of such crimes want but don't often get - justice and recognition. Strengthening efforts to gather, preserve and act on evidence of sexual violence may afford greater justice to the victims and prevent even more widespread violations. It is so important," she told the news conference.
'In the Land of Blood and Honey' tells the story of the war through an ambiguous relationship between Danijel, a Bosnian Serb, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim woman, whose affection becomes hostage to their respective ethnic groups.
They attempt to maintain their relationship against a backdrop of war, killings and rapes, and pressure from their families, which proves impossible.
Some of wartime rape victims, whose protests against the details of the plot halted the shooting of the film in Bosnia, praised the film as difficult, true and brave after it was shown during a one-week screening in Sarajevo in December.
STORY: Angelina Jolie met British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London on Tuesday (May 29), as she backed a new government campaign to fight sexual violence in conflict zones.
The Oscar-winning actress, who is a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees threw her support behind the initiative ahead of a screening of her directorial debut 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' at the foreign office.
Hague said his experiences meeting victims of sexual violence in Bosnia and Rwanda highlighted the importance of fighting such crimes.
Jolie said she was grateful to be part of such an important campaign.
"Although progress has been made there is so much that needs to be done. Today as conflicts rage around the world sexual violence continues to take a terrible toll - no longer can we pretend not to know the grave consequences of our failure to prevent and combat these crimes. We know what the victims of such crimes want but don't often get - justice and recognition. Strengthening efforts to gather, preserve and act on evidence of sexual violence may afford greater justice to the victims and prevent even more widespread violations. It is so important," she told the news conference.
'In the Land of Blood and Honey' tells the story of the war through an ambiguous relationship between Danijel, a Bosnian Serb, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim woman, whose affection becomes hostage to their respective ethnic groups.
They attempt to maintain their relationship against a backdrop of war, killings and rapes, and pressure from their families, which proves impossible.
Some of wartime rape victims, whose protests against the details of the plot halted the shooting of the film in Bosnia, praised the film as difficult, true and brave after it was shown during a one-week screening in Sarajevo in December.