The Mostra has yet to roll out its first red carpet, but a man who shouldn’t even be coming to Venice is already at the center of the stage. On September 2, 2026, the 83rd edition of the Venice International Film Festival will open with its parade of stars, world premieres, and Oscar contenders. Yet, amidst George Clooney, Robert Pattinson, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Rooney Mara, and the Gallagher brothers, the name that magnetizes conversations is Elon Musk.
The reason lies in an extraordinary film: Musk, the 225-minute documentary directed by Alex Gibney. For nearly four hours, the Oscar-winning filmmaker aims to look behind the legend of the entrepreneur and interrogate how the most exposed man on the planet constructs his own narrative. Just days before the opening, this work is already transforming the Mostra into an arena where cinema, technology, power, and public image will confront each other.
A 225-Minute Documentary That Already Dominates the Conversation
According to the official programming of the Biennale, Musk will be presented in the Venice Open section, out of competition. Its duration, 225 minutes, is accompanied by a ten-minute intermission. The screening for industry professionals is scheduled for September 7, followed by several public and accredited screenings on September 8 and 9. This monumental format immediately gives the project an event-like dimension.
The film features testimonies from Justine Musk, journalist Kara Swisher, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, journalist Zoë Schiffer, and researcher Geoffrey Hinton. This choice indicates that Gibney does not merely want to tell an industrial success story. He intends to examine a system of influence that spans automotive, space, artificial intelligence, social media, labor, and politics.
In its synopsis, the Biennale presents the documentary as a sharp look behind the legend of an inventor-entrepreneur whose influence on the world is immense. The director explains that he wants to abandon the âmaster planâ shaped by Musk himself. In other words, the film does not promise a promotional portrait: it seeks to study how a personality transforms every announcement, every scene, and every conflict into an episode of his own mythology.
Why Elon Musk Can Steal the Spotlight Without Being Present
The Associated Press highlights the paradox of this edition: Venice awaits a constellation of celebrities, but much of the attention may focus on Musk, likely absent. This phenomenon speaks volumes about the contemporary weight of his image. The billionaire is no longer just a business leader. He has become a global cultural figure, followed like a star, contested as a political leader, and analyzed as a media entity in his own right.
The power of the subject also stems from its ability to divide. For his admirers, Musk embodies industrial boldness and the desire to accelerate the future. For his critics, he concentrates too much private power over infrastructures, platforms, and technologies that shape public life. A long documentary, crafted by a director known for his investigations into corporations and institutions, thus becomes much more than a biography: it is a test of the possibility of narrating a man who continuously produces his own version of history.
Yet Venice Aligns a Spectacular Red Carpet
The media competition will be immense. The Mostra expects Robert Pattinson in Primetime, where he plays Chris Hansen, the American host associated with To Catch a Predator. Dakota Johnson is set to embody the imagination of Marilyn Monroe in the short film Flesh Impact. Guy Pearce plays Rupert Murdoch, while Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are among the most anticipated faces of the festival.
George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn will each receive a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Clooney will also participate in a masterclass alongside other prominent figures announced by the Biennale. The presence of Noel and Liam Gallagher adds yet another musical and popular dimension to an event historically centered on cinema. On paper, all the ingredients for a grand glamorous celebration are in place.
However, this abundance of stars makes the case of Musk all the more striking. The documentary does not need its protagonist on the red carpet to exist in the conversation. It feeds off his absence, his notoriety, and the tension between what the public already believes it knows and what the film claims it can reveal.
A More Global Mostra, Less Dependent on Hollywood
The 83rd Mostra will take place from September 2 to 12 on the Lido. The official selection includes an international competition featuring up to 21 feature films presented as world premieres, as well as the Orizzonti, Venice Spotlight, Venice Classics, and Venice Immersive sections. This structure allows Venice to engage established authors, new talents, heritage, and emerging technological forms in dialogue.
The Associated Press notes that the 2026 selection is less laden with major Hollywood studio productions than some previous editions. This relative retreat does not diminish its influence. On the contrary, it may strengthen its international identity and its role as a launchpad for auteur films, political documentaries, and works seeking a trajectory in the awards season.
The program reflects this ambition with narratives about media, conflict, exile, power, and contemporary myths. The documentary NAZA, focusing on the human cost of war in Gaza, has notably joined the competition. The simultaneous presence of such subjects serves as a reminder that Venice does not merely want to produce images of gowns, boats, and flashes. The festival also seeks to impose the debates that will accompany global cinema in the months to come.
Cinema Facing New Technological Empires
The decision to place Musk at the heart of the program illustrates a profound shift. For decades, major festivals primarily observed political power, wars, traditional media, and financial empires. Now, platform and technology leaders also shape collective narratives. They control communication tools, steer markets, and become global figures whose decisions extend far beyond their companies.
For Europe and France, the subject resonates particularly. Debates on platform regulation, artificial intelligence, digital sovereignty, and the accountability of tech leaders are already occupying governments and European institutions. The documentary thus arrives in a space where the public no longer simply asks, âWho is Elon Musk?â The question becomes: âWhat power can a single person exert over the imagination, information, and infrastructures of the world?â
The Signal That the Film Industry Cannot Ignore
The attention battle surrounding Musk finally reveals an economic truth. In a landscape saturated with content, a festival must create immediately identifiable events. A nearly four-hour documentary about one of the most well-known and controversial figures on the planet possesses this strength. It generates a story even before its first screening and gives the Mostra a subject capable of circulating well beyond cinema pages.
One essential question remains: will the film live up to the enormous buzz surrounding it? Its length may provide the necessary depth to untangle the legend, the facts, and the contradictions. It may also test the audience. Only the screenings will reveal whether Gibney has constructed a decisive investigation or a portrait where the protagonist absorbs all attempts at critique.
One thing is already certain. In Venice, Elon Musk will not just be the subject of a documentary. He will be the measure of a cultural shift: that of a world where technology magnates compete with movie stars to define the characters, conflicts, and myths of our time.
Sources
- Associated Press, presentation of the 83rd Mostra and its main films, August 30, 2026.
- La Biennale di Venezia, official sheet of the documentary Musk, synopsis, team, and schedule.
- La Biennale di Venezia, official selection of the 83rd edition, August 29, 2026.
- Associated Press, announcement of the programming and context of the 2026 selection, July 23, 2026.