Within this project, the object of study will be those European films that, in their local market, achieve the same economic success as the biggest American films. These European films are, interestingly, difficult to export, a fact that leads to important questions regarding to what extent these successful films depend on a national culture and a local market. In order to answer those questions, different European film markets will be studied (mainly Italy and Spain, Germany and Austria, as well as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway). The purposes of the project are: to clarify the conditions necessary for an economically successful film production and distribution within and across European borders; to evaluate not only which forms of cultural belonging that may contribute to a film's success on a national level, but also to see to what extent cultural belonging may obstruct - or support - a distribution to other markets; and, finally, to contribute to a more profound discussion of how economic circumstances affect cultural production. The project should be of interest to several disciplines concerned with culture and identity, to film and media scholars, and to officials such as those within the EU that are to evaluate the reasons - economic and cultural - for supporting the European film industry.