Angelina Jolie has been honored for raising awareness of human rights issues with her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey.

The actress stepped behind the camera for the harrowing movie, about a forbidden romance between a Bosnian woman and a Serbian soldier during the Bosnian War.

Jolie was the guest of honor at the Cinema For Peace Gala in Berlin, Germany and she was handed the special film accolade as partner Brad Pitt looked on.

The movie will premiere in Sarajevo, Bosnia on Tuesday, and Jolie admits she's feeling apprehensive about the showing.

She told reporters, "I'm nervous and I'm excited. I'll probably cry through the entire thing. I'll be very, very moved because, of course, a lot of the people coming are the victims of war so it's going to be heavy."

"I wanted to make a film that would express, in an artistic way, my frustrations with the international community's failure to intervene in conflicts in a timely and effective manner. I also wanted to explore and understand the Bosnian War, as well as broader issues such as women in conflict, sexual violence, accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the challenge of reconciliation," she explains. "It was the deadliest war in Europe since World War II, but sometimes people forget the terrible violence that happened in our time, in our generation, to our generation."