After premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Natalie Portman’s directorial debut is finally heading to theaters — well, relatively soon. Although the film does not yet have an official release date, the first English-language trailer for A Tale of Love and Darkness has arrived, and it looks like Portman is just as talented behind the camera as she is in front of it.

Based on Amos Oz’s best-selling memoir of the same name, the story centers on the author’s life and his relationship with his mother (Portman) from the early years of the State of Israel to the ongoing conflict. Portman spent years writing the adaptation, which debuted at Cannes last May and received mixed reviews — though most skewed to the positive side of things. If nothing else, A Tale of Love and Darkness certainly looks great and appears to signal a promising start for Portman’s directing career.

Here’s the official synopsis for Oz’s book:

A family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history. A Tale of Love and Darkness is the story of a boy who grows up in war-torn Jerusalem, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. The story of an adolescent whose life has been changed forever by his mother’s suicide. The story of a man who leaves the constraints of his family and community to join a kibbutz, change his name, marry, have children. The story of a writer who becomes an active participant in the political life of his nation.

A Tale of Love and Darkness also stars Amir Tessler, Shira Haas and Ohad Knoller, and although it doesn’t have a release date just yet, IMDb claims it will hit theaters on August 19. That may be inaccurate, but now that the trailer is out, expect a more official date sooner rather than later.

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