- Director: Riccardo Milani
- Cast: Claudio Bisio, Kasia Smutniak, Franco Ravera, Gianni Cavina, Patrick Rispo, Piera Degli Esposti
- Year: 2013
- Duration: 100 mins
- Tickets: On Location
- Cost: General Admission: $10, SDIFF Members, Students and Military: $8
Through a series of missteps and coincidences, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the local librarian and fisherman from a small mountain village, has been elected president of Italy. Having agreed to renounce the post, he changes his mind once he sees how things really operate. He is an “everyman” thrust into a powerful position, making changes he has only dreamed of.
Benvenuto, Presidente is a hilarious combination of Mr. Smith Goes to Washingtonmeets the Keystone cops with an homage to anarchy and Janis Joplin. A new comedy by Riccardo Milani, the film unmasks corruption in the Italian government and offers the country an education in personal responsibility. The film calls the citizens of Italy to civic accountability through the metaphor of an ordinary man forced to grapple with the difficult and overwhelming task of being a responsible citizen.
