Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie in Sarajevo Reuters

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut has led to threats of physical violence against the Hollywood star and members of her film crew.

In the Land of Blood and Honey, a raw look at the Bosnian War in the 1990s, opened in Sarajevo, scene of many of the war's atrocities, to mixed reactions with the car window of one member of the production team smashed and threats sent to Jolie.

Jolie told the Guardian: "There were things sent to me, there were things posted online.

"The cast have never complained to me about these threats but I've heard through other people it was happening.

"One of them did have their windows smashed in on their cars and someone else had an issue when their phone was hacked and emails were sent out."

The actress said the threats had scared her.

Jolie avoided holding the premiere in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and opted instead for the capital of Bosnia.

"The physical threats are not what most bothered me because I have been to so many different countries where there are different kinds of threats.

"With a film like this, you don't want it to be used as a tool."

The film is centred on the relationship between a Serbian police officer and a Muslim artist and how they are affected by the war.

Fifty thousand women were believed to have been raped during the war which claimed 100,000 lives between April 1992 and December 1995.

The only film distributor in the Serb-run part of Bosnia, Vladimir Ljevar, has refused to put the film on his books.

"There are simply some films that are acceptable for Sarajevo, but not [here]," he said.