Silvio Berlusconi enters Italian politics in 1994 already owning Mediaset, the private broadcaster built to rival the state network RAI, and this film tracks what happens when the media mogul becomes the man overseeing the nation's press. Director Andrea Cairola follows Berlusconi's rise, his brief exit during the 'mani pulite' corruption probes, and his return to the premiership in 2001 with a portfolio that by then included a bank, insurance firms, publishing houses, a soccer club, and three of Italy's seven national television channels. The film documents his swift replacement of RAI's board within a year of retaking office, and members of the Democratic Left accusing him of gutting public television. The strongest evidence arrives unplanned: while filming an anti-Berlusconi protest outside RAI's studios, the crew is stopped by plainclothes police despite doing nothing illegal. Produced by PBS's Wide Angle and later banned from Italian broadcast, the film lets that single interruption stand as its argument about who controls what Italians see.