Neuigkeiten

Prominent Italian producer Aurelio De Laurentiis has teamed up with the National Italian American Foundation (Niaf) to establish a film production grant program supporting aspiring filmmakers with compelling stories to tell about Italian and Italian American experiences.

De Laurentiis, who is the nephew of the late great movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis and a mogul in his own right — his Filmauro banner has released more than 400 movies — has long been supporting young filmmakers by financing the Venice Film Festival’s $100,000 “Luigi De Laurentiis” award for best first work.

The nascent Niaf/De Laurentiis Film Prizes will award a $10,000 grant this year to five selected applicants toward producing a short film project in any genre, including documentaries. The best project will be awarded an additional $10,000, plus a mentorship directly with De Laurentiis and his Filmauro team.

The five award-winning films will premiere at the Niaf 50th anniversary gala in Washington, D.

Senior citizens having sex, a rock star deciding to kill himself, a clueless Italian bungling his way through a Christmas vacation -- these are the plot lines of top local hits in key European territories.

Although such American films and franchises as "Transformers," "Ice Age" and "Mamma Mia!" can be counted on to bring in big bucks abroad, local fare can surprise on the upside, even occasionally besting U.S. competition at the boxoffice.

France's outsized comedy "Welcome to the Sticks," for example, managed to lure more Gallic moviegoers than even Johnny Depp in his latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" saga. A Scandinavian crime print trilogy, "Millennium," has unleashed a multiplatform campaign that will see it exploited across theatrical, books, film, DVD, TV and merchandising.

Below is a rundown of recent local favorites and how they increasingly are making moolah by crossing national borders, licensing remake rights or optimizing their franchise potential.