Natalie Portman, slated to start filming the movie
adaptation of Amos Oz's 'A Tale of Love and Darkness' in Jerusalem Tuesday, is
facing a backlash from the ultra-Orthodox community.
Portman, who has begun production on her directorial debut,
is filming in an ultra-Orthodox part of the Nahlaot neighborhood. According to
Israel's Channel 10, while she coordinated the shoot with the Jerusalem
Municipality, officials failed to inform the residents, who wrote a letter
complaining that the filming will take place near synagogues and yeshivot.
“The scenes being filmed should have been examined first to
make sure they don’t offend anybody’s sensitivities,” the letter stated.
Several ultra-Orthodox residents have already sprayed
graffiti against what they call the "foreign invasion" of the
neighborhood. The municipality has assured residents the actors will be dressed
modestly.
Jerusalem deputy mayor Rachel Azaria told Channel 10 that
there is constant tension between the determination to celebrate Jerusalem's
diversity and the efforts by extreme groups to prevent it, but that the city's
"appeal, unique architecture and entertainment projects will continue to
blossom."
Portman and her husband Benjamin Millepied, French dancer
and choreographer - who recently announced he is in the process of converting
to Judaism, - are currently in Israel with their two and a half year old son
Aleph for the duration of filming.
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