Bosnia Doesn't Hate Angelina Jolie After All

After much red tape and script concerns, she regains permit to shoot directorial debut in Sarajevo next month

By Gina Serpe Oct 18, 2010 2:13 PMTags
Angelina JolieFame Pictures Inc.

It's going to take more than just a technicality to keep Angelina Jolie out of commission.

Just a few days after Bosnian officials put the temporary kibosh on her directorial debut over concerns with her script (namely, its absence from her application to film in the country), Jolie's production is back on track today.

Nice to know red tape doesn't just affect the little people.

"We were promised by the Ministry of Culture that the permit will be issued on Monday," the director of Scout, the Bosnian production house working on the as-yet-untitled film told ABC News. "It was supposed to be done on Friday, but now it is sure to happen Monday."

The permit was rescinded due to some crossed wires last week. Jolie's production neglected to include the full script when submitting their application to film in the country, instead attaching only a synopsis. Then something happened which, really, should've been no surprise to Jolie: the rumor mill took over.

The wartime love story, between a Bosnian woman and Serbian man, somehow devolved in the press into a story about a rape victim who falls for her attacker. The local Women Victims of War Association became naturally upset and put pressure on the Culture Ministry to nix the permit. Which they did. Until today.

While Jolie herself asked the women's group to "hold judgment" until they've seen the film—which is not, she stressed, intended to be a documentary—GK Films, which is behind the production, issued a statement of their own.

"The stories about the film which have recently been circulated are incorrect."

Now that that's all straightened out…Jolie herself won't be in the country until next month, when the production moves to Sarajevo. The actress, who in addition to her helming duties is also writing and producing the already controversial film, is currently shooting in Hungary.