Biggest little fans cheer Oscar nominee

When you first enter the Fiore household, you'd be hard-pressed to notice anything out of the ordinary.

The great lake view notwithstanding, it's a normal Papillion home: two-car garage, combo kitchen and dining room, placemats all around the table for the kids.

Look a little closer, though, and you might notice the subtle signs of Hollywood: On the wall, to the left of the kids' pencil-drawn growth chart, is a calendar marked with the yellow-highlighted words “Academy Awards” on March 7.

And in the basement this week, you'd find a made-for-movies alien forest, complete with floating mountains and shimmering wood sprites.

Welcome to the home of Mauro Fiore, Academy Award-nominated cinematographer of “Avatar,” and his wife, Christine.

And welcome to “Pandora,” the homemade version, courtesy of the Fiore kids: Olivia, 8, Tessa, 6, and Luca, 4.

In a busy season of award ceremonies, socializing with A-listers and free luxury grab bags, this wall-sized mural of the wild forest on an alien moon in “Avatar” might be the coolest thing Mauro will get, Oscar or no.

This gift isn't about glitz and glamour. This is about family.

The kids, with Christine's help, laid out the blues, greens, browns and golds of Pandora's flora and fauna — trees, creatures, some Na'vi (human-like aliens) and a golden sun — with paints, pictures and a little hand drawing, all to make sure Dad knew who his biggest fans were on the eve of his big trip to the biggest award ceremony of all.

The kids can lay out the details — the floor-to-ceiling painted Home Tree near the stairs, the twinkling tinsel-like bundles and hanging brown clusters representing wood sprites and floating Hallelujah Mountains (“Holly-loo-la,” as pronounced by Luca) — but to Mauro, the details aren't nearly as important as the sentiment.

Because he leaves for Los Angeles today, to be joined by Christine next week, Mom helped the kids dream up the project as a good-luck send-off, a way to celebrate with him though they'll be here in Nebraska watching the Academy Awards ceremony with their grandparents.

“It's really cool,” he says, tilting his head and smiling as they point out the key features. “The family kind of comes together for this whole thing.”

It's family that has meant the most to him as he pursues his Hollywood career: Christine's parents, who live just two miles down the road, helped her and the kids tremendously when Mauro was in New Zealand filming “Avatar” from July 2007 to February 2008. Mauro's sister, who lives in Italy, accompanied him around London during the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards on Feb. 21.

But Christine and the kids bear the brunt of his bustling schedule: While some jobs mean a beautiful vacation for all (2003's “Tears of the Sun,” filmed in Hawaii), others mean a dreary stay overseas (prep for “Mission Impossible III” in rainy Germany, a movie Mauro eventually left before filming) or, worse, long droughts at home in Nebraska while Dad's out of town.

“It's rough sometimes, but you can't complain. We've got it pretty good,” said Christine.

“Still, it's way better when they get to come along, like this next one,” said Mauro, who will film “Real Steel,” a film starring Hugh Jackman, in Detroit this summer. “Much better having them around.”

When Mauro and Christine are walking the red carpet or sitting among the movie stars at the Oscars a week from Sunday, they can be sure their brood back home will be there for them whether the big prize comes home or not.

The kids haven't actually even seen “Avatar” yet.

They're just rooting for Dad.

Contact the writer:

444-1339, wesley.taylor@owh.com

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