NXT Natalie Portman at France’s Lumiere Festival: ‘It Feels Crazy to Be Talking About Anything Else Except Celebrating Peace”
Guest of Honor at the Lumiere Film Festival, Natalie Portman choked with emotion: ’I Feel the Need to Put Positivity Into the World’
LYON, France — Speaking at the Lumière Film Festival on Monday, Natalie Portman reflected emotionally on the day’s news from her native Jerusalem, calling the end of the war and the release of hostages and prisoners “a momentous day.”
Asked by festival director Thierry Fremaux where she is from, Portman replied: “Well, I’m from Jerusalem, I am born in Jerusalem. So today is a very, very emotional day. To see the end of the war today and the release and the swap of the prisoners and the hostages is really a momentous day, and it feels almost crazy to be talking about anything else except celebrating, hopefully, peace.”
The Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker is in Lyon as one of this year’s guests of honor at the Lumière Film Festival, which is paying tribute to her career with a retrospective of her work, including the screening of “Black Swan” at the 2,000-seat Auditorium.
On Monday, Portman also presented “Arco,” an animated feature she produced with Sophie Mas through their MountainA banner, which premiered at Lumière ahead of its French theatrical release this week. “I definitely feel the need to put positivity into the world right now,” she said. “We produced “Arco,” it’s incredibly positive and timely film. And the last two films I produced and acted in are comedies – “The Gallerist,” and Good Sex” that will be out next year – so I’m definitely leaning toward the light right now.”
Turning to the industry’s rapid evolution, Portman said she’s fascinated about how technology is reshaping creativity. “I’m obviously interested in all forms of expression, and I’m also curious to see what innovation there is in the face of all the new technology, because I think when there is new technology like what we’re facing now with AI, that’s when people get really creative and forms change – like with photography – so, I am curious what will happens in our industry.”
Introducing “Black Swan,” Portman said she practiced ballet throughout her childhood, and has “always loved dance as a form of expression that can’t be matched with anything else in terms of human emotion.”
Describing her collaboration with director Daren Aronofsky as “an absolute dream,” Portman – an outspoken advocate for women’s rights – reflected on how growing up in the spotlight as a former child actor has shaped her sense of artistic independence and her understanding of women’s self-expression. “Girls in ballet are infantilized, they’re called ‘girls’ not ‘women,’ they’re asked to keep their bodies like girls not women, and so there was a thing, for me, about being in this position as a child artist trying to please the kind of parental figure that is your director or the company director, and becoming someone looking for that pleasure herself: becoming an artist is about finding pleasure for yourself and not doing anything for anyone else.”
A huge queue stretched outside Lyon’s sold-out Auditorium as fans hoped to get a lastminute spot for the talk and the “Black Swan” screening – those who failed to get in will undoubltely head to her masterclass on Tuesday morning.
The Lumiere Film Festival runs in Lyon until October 19.
