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In April 2009, some 120,000 people were affected by an earthquake that devastated the city of Aquila, Italy, and its surrounding region. Over 300 people were killed. In her investigation of the reconstruction process, political comedian Sabina Guzzanti (she’s been called the Michael Moore of Italy) has stated her film is a “reflection on Italy’s drift to authoritarianism.” Indeed, when Draquila – Italy Trembles premièred at Cannes, the Italian minister of culture boycotted the festival over its selection of a “propaganda film which insults the truth and the Italian people.” Guzzanti’s previous documentary, Viva Zapatero!, was a response to censorship laws which led to the cancellation of her television show, the primary satirical target of which was the Berlusconi government. Here she finds an aid and reconstruction effort fraught with scandal, political opportunism and corruption. Incisive and mordantly funny, Guzzanti provides effective opposition to a media-savvy empire.