Since opening in 2008, the Italian Film Festival has become one the premiere event promoting Italian life and art in Minnesota. The ninth edition of the popular program opens Thursday like a cinematic time machine. The three-day program, sponsored by the Italian Cultural Center, will introduce eight current releases and conclude Sunday with a rare theatrical presentation of a legendary classic by Sergio Leone, the Michelangelo of the Spaghetti Western.

The opening night feature, “Quo Vado?”(“Where am I Going?”), is smash hit in its homeland, the highest-grossing Italian film in history. It’s a broad political comedy following Checco, a second-rate public servant, through his battles to hold onto his small town post, with its minimal workload and comfy facilities. When a new reformist government vows to abolish such unproductive staff, the permanent functionary can’t be easily tossed out of his lifetime career.