The promotion of Italian books abroad represents one of the most important instruments of cultural diplomacy and cultural growth. In this context, awards and grants for the translation of literary and scientific works, as well as for the production, dubbing or subtitling into foreign languages of short films, feature films and television series, constitute a key tool to support their dissemination.
Interested applicants may submit their requests, complete with all the documents listed in the call for applications, to the competent Italian Cultural Institutes for their territory – where present – or to the relevant Embassies, by 31 March 2026.
Applications must be submitted by the applicants exclusively using the designated form, in Italian, English or Spanish.
Requests for grants are not admissible for works that have already been published, distributed, translated or dubbed at the time of submission of the application, nor for works whose publication is scheduled before 1 July 2026, i.e. before the timeframe required to complete the procedures for the allocation of the grant by the Ministry.
Please also note that, for an application to be admissible, the requested contribution must be lower than the total cost of the project. Furthermore, the MAECI contribution must not constitute a binding condition for the translation, dissemination, production, publication, dubbing or subtitling of the work.
Applications will not be accepted for works that already benefit from contributions provided by other Italian institutions. Likewise, applications will not be admissible for works that have already competed for the awarding of Prizes or Grants in previous financial years, unless the competent diplomatic mission abroad deems it appropriate to propose a reconsideration, duly justified by a change in the local context.
Applicants are kindly invited to carefully read the call for applications.
The Embassy of Italy in Colombo remains available for further information at: ambasciata.colombo@esteri.it.
