Natalie Portman in TA for her Oz film
Jerusalem-born actress meets actors and producers here for her adaptation of Amos Oz’s ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman, 32, is in Tel Aviv working on pre-production for her film adaptation of “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” by acclaimed Israeli author Amos Oz.
According to Channel 10 TV show “Good Evening with Guy Pines,” Portman spent the past week with her husband, dancer Benjamin Millepied, and their son, Aleph, at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv. She also met with producers, including Ran Bergman, who recently produced “Looper,” starring Bruce Willis.
Portman will play Oz’s mother in the movie version of the autobiographical novel, which covers Oz’s youth in Jerusalem during the early years of the state. She wrote the screenplay for the film and will also direct. She asked Oz for the rights to the novel six years ago, and he agreed because of his “high esteem for her work,” Oz told Reuters.
Portman received NIS 1.6 million (some $450,000) from the Jerusalem Development Authority to make the movie in the capital, where filming will begin next year.
According to Pines, Portman plans on speaking in Hebrew in the film. Her Hebrew is fairly fluent, thanks to her Israeli father, Avner Hershlag. She was born in Jerusalem, like Oz, but moved to the US with her parents when she was three.
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