Angelina Jolie has travelled to Japan to campaign for an issue close to her heart — the fight against sexual violence in war-torn zones.
The Mr and Mrs Smith actress and humanitarian aid worker was accompanied by her husband Brad Pitt and their children, Pax, nine, and five-year old twins Knox and Vivienne.
While Brad was busy promoting his new film World War Z , Angelina made good use of her time by hosting a screening of her own film, In the Land of Blood and Honey, which she said hoped would raise awareness of the sexual violence issue.
"When I started down the road, making this film, I thought only of telling a story and doing my best to try to give a voice to survivors," said Angelina, speaking in front of an audience at the U.N. University in Tokyo.
"Today I am here not only as a director, but as a campaigner, and a part of a global effort that is growing every day. "Wearing a black Michael Kors dress, Angelina looked the picture of health given that she had undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer at the beginning of the year.The sensational actress added that she hoped her film would raise awareness about sexual abuse in war-torn areas, and encourage authorities to take action against the guilty parties. "This is just a beginning," she said. "Our aim must be to shatter impunity, so that rape can no longer be used as a weapon of war anywhere in the world as it was in Bosnia, and as it is today from Congo to Syria."
Angelina's film, which received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film, will be released in Japan on 10 August. It tells the fictional tale of a romance between a Bosnian Serb man and a Bosnian Muslim woman during the Balkan war in the 1990s.As a special envoy for the United Nations, Angelina has travelled around the world and often uses her high-profile celebrity status to make people aware of humanitarian issues. In June she ventured to the border of Jordan to meet Syrian refugees who had fled their war-torn country.
"We can't know your pain," said Angelina, speaking to the men, women and children who had lost their loved ones, but encouraged them to tell their stories of great courage and sadness.
She later called the situation in Syria a "human tragedy" and "the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century," and called on the world to address the country's plight.