Natalie Portman gets busy with 'project of her life' in Jerusalem

After months of preparations and touring Israel, Hollywood star begins filming her directorial debut based on Amos Oz's autobiographical novel.

After months of preparations, visits to every restaurant in Tel Aviv and registering her little boy in a local kindergarten, Natalie Portman has finally begun shooting her new film in Israel.

 

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The Hollywood star was spotted in Jerusalem this week on the set of her production, which she has defined as the "project of her life," in the haredi area of the Nahalot neighborhood.

 

While dozens of security guards watched the set, the actors and mainly the novice director, Portman appeared to be hard at work.

 

Portman has been in the country for several weeks now for the purpose of shooting her first film as director. The movie is based on a 2002 book by Amos Oz, "A Tale of Love and Darkness." Portman will not only direct the film but will also play a woman suffering from a mental illness.

 

 

The autobiographical tale of "A Tale of Love and Darkness" takes place in Jerusalem in the second half of the 1940s. Portman adapted the screenplay, which deals with the story of a child (Amos Oz) growing up in the shadow of his mother's mental illness and father's helplessness against the background of historical events.

 

Portman bought the film rights to the book through her production company Handsomecharlie in 2007. The Film and Television Fund at the Jerusalem Development Authority donated NIS 1.6 million (about $450,000) to support the production.

 

"I’ve been reading Oz since high school, and when I read his biography I just sort of saw it," Portman said five years ago in an interview to W magazine.