Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. February 24, 2012 Serbs Resent Images and Message in Angelina Jolie's Film Dianna Cahn | Belgrade A poster of Angelina Jolie's 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' film in Belgrade, Feb. 24, 2012. Photo: AP A poster of Angelina Jolie's 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' film in Belgrade, Feb. 24, 2012. The film In the Land of Blood and Honey, is a love story set amidst the brutal crimes of the Bosnia war. It marks the directorial debut of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie. The film opened in Belgrade Thursday to little fanfare after Joli cancelled her premiere appearance due to threats of violence. It was met with outrage even before it arrived. In the Bosnian capital Sarajevo last week, Jolie and her film evoking the horrors of a genocidal war received a standing ovation from the thousands in attendance. In Belgrade, Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey opened on Thursday in just two theaters and without any promotional advertising. For weeks before it arrived, the film drew furious headlines and condemnation in Serbia. Critics, among them top actors and directors, called it Hollywood propaganda and superficial for depicting only Serbian aggression against Bosnia's Muslims and Croats in a war that killed an estimated 100,000 people, mostly civilians. Many Serbs say they are tired of being branded the villains by the international community, arguing that atrocities were common from all sides during the conflict, which ran from 1992 to 1995. Ana Marjanovic said she was ready to give the film a chance, but was disappointed. "My main impression was that it's a bad movie," said Marjanovic. "And then the other thing is that it is way too one sided. Even if she wanted to send a message, it's lost, at least for the people in Serbia because of that and that's too bad. That was one more chance to explain something. But she didn't do that." Many Serbs share a deep sense of frustration - one often fueled by political rhetoric - that Serbia's image has not improved even with the passing years. History professor Predrag Markovic says Serbs feel they cannot win. 'For many Serbs it seems there is a constant campaign against Serbs that goes on in official politics and this turmoil around the Angelina Jolie movie is only a new proof they would believe that the international community are actually against the Serbs," said Markovic. "They accept them only as bad guys who should be demonized in politics as well as in the arts." The movie, set during the war, portrays a tragic love story between a young Bosnian woman and the Serb soldier in charge of the detention camp where she is held captive. Scenes of women being raped and mass killings are graphic and excessive, which offended some in the audience. Serbs have been reluctant to examine their own role, but Milos Urosovic says his country needs to come to terms with the atrocities committed. "The director, I think, shows really a picture of the war in Bosnia," said Urosovic. "This was not a civil war. This was a war against civilian population. This was Serbian aggression in Bosnia Herzegovina and the systematic rape of Bosnian women was a tactic of war." The film opens at a critical time in Serbia, just ahead of national elections and at the height of frustration over Serbia's bid to join the European Union. In compliance with EU demands, Serbia handed over the two highest ranking war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia last year. And for the first time it condemned the mass murder of civilians carried out by Serb forces in Srebenica. But European integration has been further hampered by territorial disputes in Kosovo, leaving many in Serbia furious over what they see as a moving target for international acceptance and a platform for nationalist politicians. Film Director Stevan Filipovic, whose 2010 film about neo-Nazi football hooligans won acclaim, says the nationalist ideology in Serbia has left little room for public debate. "The nationalists are just finding the ways to promote their ideas," said Filipovic. "So basically, all the hype about the film that Angelina Jolie made as a director is not actually directed at the movie itself. It transcended the point when it was about a particular film and we got back into the same old stories. This is anti-Serbia and by saying that, they want to actually deny these things happened during the war. And that's one of the bigger problems we face here." Markovic, the historian, and other critics say they are not denying what happened during the war. But they point to crimes committed by other sides. He also disputes United Nations reports concluding that between 20,000 and 50,000 Bosnian women were raped by Serbian forces during the war. Michelle Jarvis is legal adviser to the prosecutor at the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia. She says the cases they have prosecuted are establishing case law that rape and sexual violence by Serbs against the Bosnians were not only systematic and widespread, but were used to carry out the agenda of ethnic cleansing. "I think the bottom line is yes, we have a number of cases and we see the case law developing and building as we go higher and higher up the chain of command," said Jarvis. "We have confirmation that sexual violence was used strategically in the conflict as a weapon of war." Angelina Jolie said she hoped her film about rape and brutality in the Bosnia war would open dialogue in the scarred region. At the cinema in Belgrade Thursday night, most Serbs said that the film did little more than underscore the worst stereotypes. .