A Tale of Love and Darkness

Oscar-winner Natalie Portman leads her own directorial feature debut portraying the memoir of journalist Amos Oz, an advocate of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

"Portman's deep understanding of her homeland permeates this touching, dreamlike film, which tells of an immigrant family's struggles even as it positions them within the larger context of a nation's birth. The film begins in the mid-1940s when Amos (Amir Tessler) is eight years old, living with his father Arieh (Gilad Kahana) and mother Fania (Portman) in British Palestine. The years leading up to the creation of the state of Israel are characterised by escalating tensions between Jews and Arabs — conflicts that mirror the troubled marriage of Amos' parents, both of whom were refugees who fled to Palestine for safety. While the story is told through the eyes of young Amos, it is Fania around whom much of the narrative revolves. She was an intellectual raised in privilege, and now she struggles to accept her adult life as a poor newcomer in a fledgling land, married to a failed academic. Portman sensitively portrays Fania's spiritual desolation and emotional fragility, while allowing her pleasure in her only child to shine." (Toronto International Film Festival)

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