"Musk Did Not Found Tesla?" Documentary Director, "Worse Than Dung," Directly Refutes Musk's Outrage

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Director of 4-Hour Documentary Directly Refutes at TIFF

As a 225-minute documentary about Elon Musk was released, director Alex Gibney directly challenged the common notion that "Musk founded Tesla." Although Musk became furious over the film and harshly criticized both the director and the work, Gibney did not back down.

On the 14th (local time), Director Gibney held a Q&A session with the audience after screening the documentary 'Musk' at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). When an audience member asked a question implying "Do you prefer a world without him?" while mentioning Musk's achievements, Gibney first questioned the premise underlying the question.

He pointed out that it is inaccurate to know Musk only as the founder of Tesla and that the roles played by Tesla's early co-founders and engineers have not been properly highlighted. The audience applauded his response on site.

In fact, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard appears in the film. Eberhard directly testifies about the early history of Tesla in the movie.

Especially, Eberhard recalled when he first met Musk at the beginning of their business venture and reported that Musk told him at the time that no one could take away his status as the founder of Tesla. However, the film points out that as Tesla grew into a global company, the image of Musk explaining the company's success almost entirely as his own individual achievement became stronger.

This is also why Gibney is re-examining Musk's image as a "genius inventor."

Rather than denying Musk's abilities, he emphasizes that there were countless engineers, executives, and co-founders involved in the growth process of Tesla and SpaceX, making it insufficient to explain them solely as one person's success story. Gibney analyzed that Musk's greatest ability lies in persuasively conveying his strong conviction about the future to people.

The running time of the film 'Musk' is a whopping 225 minutes. According to official data from the Venice International Film Festival, it was 3 hours and 45 minutes with an additional 10-minute intermission.

It was not originally such a long film.

Gibney explained that he initially planned a much shorter documentary, but as Musk's political moves became intertwined with Donald Trump's, the story grew rapidly. It is not just a story about an entrepreneur focusing solely on Tesla and SpaceX; by following his acquisition of X, his influence in politics, and his activities within the Trump administration, the scope of the film expanded.

Musk, the actual protagonist of the film, did not participate in its production.

Gibney stated that he requested interviews with Musk several times but received no response. Instead, the production team reconstructed his trajectory through Musk's past interviews and public statements, as well as testimonies from those who watched him closely. The film features not only Eberhard but also Musk's ex-wife Justine Musk, technology journalist Kara Swisher, 'Wired' reporter Joey Seifer, former girlfriend Ashley St. Clair, and others.

Tension continued between Musk's side and the production team even before the film was released.

Musk criticized the film on his social media as a work created to attack him, and his legal team warned of potential legal action regarding some content in the film. In particular, parts covering Musk's role and Starlink's role during the 2024 U.S. presidential election were raised as issues. The production company refuted this, stating that the film is an investigative work based on facts and that they intended to provide Musk with an opportunity to state his own position.

Gibney also raised questions about Musk's reaction. His claim is that Musk labeled it a "hit piece" without even watching the film itself. Gibney stated that he initially had a somewhat favorable perception of Musk and wanted to talk directly, but since the interview did not materialize, they followed the materials and testimonies from people around him, during which process his image of Musk changed significantly.

The film does not stay only on businessman Musk. Gibney believes that the economic influence Musk accumulated through Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, X, etc., eventually expanded into the realms of politics and media. The film also includes changes in X's algorithms, political influence, and activities in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Especially, what Gibney said he discovered during the film production process was the "fear" surrounding Musk. Some people who worked at his company or have watched Musk for a long time were reluctant to speak publicly themselves. According to Gibney, even supporters said they could not be interviewed without Musk's permission.

Ultimately, the question posed by 'Musk' does not stop at how much of one person's success story is fact. Was it really just one genius who created Tesla and SpaceX? When one person simultaneously possesses massive capital, technology, media platforms, and political influence, who can check that power? Gibney follows the figure of Musk for 225 minutes to ask precisely that question.

And in front of the TIFF audience, he once again returned to the starting point of the question. It is necessary to re-examine the story we have become too accustomed to accepting: "Musk founded Tesla."

The documentary 'Musk' is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States in October.

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*This content was translated by AI.