A love story set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war is provoking strong reactions from movie-goers and critics.

The directorial debut by actress Angelina Jolie sparked controversy even before filming began.

In The Land of Blood and Honey premiered in Sarajevo, the city torn apart by the war, on Thursday.

The film tells the story of love between Danijel, a Serb, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim he knew before the war.

Al Jazeera's Simon McGregor-Wood has more on the film's debut before the audience that lived through the 1992-95 war.