Cannes ‘08: Natalie Portman appears for jury duty on the Croisette

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She may no longer be involved in ‘Wuthering Heights,’ but Natalie Portman is not about to shirk jury duty.

The actress turned up at the Cannes Film Festival, where she was called to serve as a member of the jury. (Sean Penn is this year’s jury president.) Portman is signed on to view all the films in competition and then help decide who should go home with the coveted Palme D’or.

Might Portman -- the child of an Israeli doctor who once told Rolling Stone magazine that she ‘really love(s) the states, but my heart’s in Jerusalem. That is where I feel at home.’ -- take a liking to Ari Folman’s much-discussed ‘Waltz with Bashir?’

Even despite obvious comparisons to Marjane Satrapi’s Cannes darling and eventual Oscar-nominee ‘Persepolis,’ the buzz is on blast for this animated quasi-documentary directed by Folman, a former Israeli soldier, who recalls the trauma he experienced in the first Lebanon war in 1982. (See the subtitled trailer below.)

-- Sheigh Crabtree

Photo: Sorry, we have no idea what Portman is wearing or what kind of bag she’s clutching. We do know that the actress is a member of the Cannes jury. She arrived on the Croisette prior to the opening of the 61st edition of the film festival. Getty Images.