UPDATE April 5, 10:16 a.m.: The Film Experience has been postponed and replaced by a comedy stage.
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Throughout Natalie Portman’s career, the Academy Award-winning actress has never shied away from strong female roles. From 12-year-old Mathilda in 1994 Luc Besson film The Professional to portraying Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels to her recent turn as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 2016 biopic Jackie, the Harvard University graduate has carved out an impressive and respected career in a male-dominated industry.
This spring at Boston Calling Music Festival, Portman brings her smarts to the fest’s first ever film component. Part of its expanded programming as a result of its relocation to the Harvard Athletic Complex after three years and seven festivals at City Hall Plaza, Boston Calling will for the first time present a film showcase curated by the actress herself.
“I’m proud to be curating a new film section for the festival,” Portman said in a statement last spring, “and feel lucky to celebrate the art form I love in a place that means so much to me.”
Last night at a community meeting hosted by the Allston Civic Association, Brian Appel of Boston Calling organizers Crashline Productions revealed that the film festival would center specifically on “women in film and prominence of women in the film industry.”
Not many more details are currently known, but that’s a pretty good start.
The showcase would take place on the festival grounds at the Harvard athletic campus, located inside the nearby Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
We’ve reached out to Crashline’s publicity team for more information, but details will likely be revealed when the festival’s musical lineup is unveiled next week. In the meantime, let’s hope Portman somehow includes her 2006 Lonely Island rap, because while it isn’t exactly film, it’s still the best thing ever.
Boston Calling takes place across three days this Memorial Day weekend, May 26, 27, and 28.