Natalie Portman hit the Sundance Film Festival press circuit for “The Gallerist” wearing “ICE Out” and “Be Good” pins, just hours after a man was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis. Portman’s “Be Good” references Renée Good, who was killed by ICE in Minneapolis earlier this month. During an interview at the Variety Studio presented by Audible, Portman openly blasted ICE brutality.
“This is such a joyful community celebrating film here and we’re so excited to be showing ‘The Gallerist,’ but we’re also at a moment in our country’s history that is quite devastating,” Portman said. “It’s really impossible not to talk about what is happening right now and the brutality of ICE and how it has to stop immediately. But also, there’s a beautiful community that Americans are showing right now. They’re showing up for each other, protecting each other and fighting for their freedom. It’s a bittersweet moment to celebrate something we’re so proud of on the backdrop of our nation in pain.”
Portman’s interview took place ahead of the “The Gallerist” world premiere at this year’s festival. The movie, directed by “Birds of Prey” helmer Cathy Yan and co-starring Jenna Ortega, centers on a desperate gallerist who conspires to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. Portman heaped praise upon her younger co-star.
“She’s such a fucking great actress and so knowledgeable about film,” Portman said of Ortega. “She’s so on and in it. It is rare. I think you’re very focused and in tune with everything. You’re not there to mess around.”
Portman went on to call Yan “a brilliant leader,” adding: “She has a specificity of vision. All the work ahead of time and her precise leadership leads to the possibility of spontaneity. Balancing this very specific tone that is satirical but also true emotion in it, which is almost impossible to create, she knew how to do it and guide us to it.”
With “The Gallerist” being one of Sundance’s biggest movies from a woman director and the premiere taking place just a few days after the Oscar nominations, Portman also took a moment during the interview to call out the Academy for snubbing a handful of female-directed movies this year. While Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” scored 8 nominations, including best picture and best director, many other movies directed by women were shut out.
“So many of the best films I saw this year were made by women,” Portman said. “You just see the barriers at every level because so many were not recognized at awards time. Between ‘Sorry Baby’ and ‘Left-Handed Girl’ and ‘Hedda’ and ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’… Extraordinary films this year that I think a lot of people are enjoying and loving, but are not getting the accolades they deserve.”
