'The Great Beauty' Director Wants Changes in Italy's Film Sector — hollywoodreporter.com

ROME -- Paolo Sorrentino is looking to leverage some of the attention garnered by his Academy Award win for best foreign film into advantages for Italy’s film sector as a whole. Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) won Italy’s first Oscar in 15 years Sunday night. The prestigious award made Sorrentino an instant hero in Italy. The film itself, which details the descent of a once-promising writer into Rome’s decadent party scene, has drawn mixed reviews in Italy, with some complaining that it casts many aspects of life in the Italian capital in an negative light. But almost everyone -- ranging from cinema industry figures to celebrities to political leaders -- celebrated Sunday’s Oscar win.

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