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Director Alex Gibney's documentary "Musk" premiered on Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival, running nearly four hours as it examines the world's richest man and his influence across business, politics and space exploration.
The film explores what Gibney described as the "unreality" surrounding Musk's public narrative, including his stated ambitions of colonizing Mars, shifting the planet toward sustainable energy, and protecting free speech.
Gibney, an Oscar-winning documentarian previously behind films on the Enron scandal and former Theranos chief executive Elizabeth Holmes, said he set out to understand what he called the "game" Musk is playing.
The documentary traces Musk's path from early Silicon Valley ventures through his work at SpaceX and Tesla to his more recent alignment with right-wing political leaders, including his support for Donald Trump during the 2024 US presidential campaign. Gibney pointed to what he described as a "crony capitalist" element in Musk's political activity.
The film also highlights instances where Gibney said Musk's promises fell short of results, citing safety concerns tied to Tesla's Autopilot system and cuts made under the US Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative Musk had led.
Musk had called the documentary a "hit piece" after Gibney first approached him to participate, before he had seen the film.
The documentary also touches on Musk's personal life, including his more than a dozen children with several women. His first wife, Justine, described the pattern in the film, while Ashley St. Clair, a former girlfriend and ex-political commentator who has a child with Musk, said she declined a $40 million non-disclosure agreement after their relationship ended.
St. Clair said she regretted her earlier involvement in promoting US right-wing politics and described Musk as fueling division through his public statements.
Gibney said the documentary implicates a broader circle beyond Musk himself, pointing to the amount of power ceded to him and other technology executives in recent years.
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