Cannes Applauds L'Aquila Earthquake Film

Italian film-maker Sabina Guzzanti has received a standing ovation for her controversial account of the L'Aquila earthquake at the Cannes Film Festival. Draquila: Italy Trembles attacks Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's handling of the disaster, which left 300 dead.

It suggests the leader used the crisis to boost his image after a series of sex scandals. Italy's culture minister is boycotting Cannes over the film's inclusion.

Speaking after the 90-minute film's debut, Guzzanti admitted it had taken courage to speak out against the Italian government, but she thought the film had been met with a "good reaction."

Berlusconi has pointed to the hands-on response to the crisis in L'Aquila as one of his government's biggest successes. But Guzzanti claims the politician was too busy planning last summer's G8 summit to make sure that the 60,000 people left homeless by the earthquake were properly taken care of, report BBC News.

Her film portrays him as a vampire, sucking the blood out of the city, leading to the title, Draquila – a compression of the words Dracula and L'Aquila.

The movie acknowledges that Mr Berlusconi pledged money for new homes to be built, but argues it is not nearly enough to re-house everyone. Meanwhile, it claims, residents have been barred from attempting to repair their own homes for safety reasons.

One year on, L'Aquila is still a ghost town, its centre off-limits because the buildings are unsafe. Temporary housing for the displaced has been built far from the city at three times the projected cost.