VENICE — The documentary has a runtime of nearly four hours. The documentary “NAZA” is a late addition to the festival competition lineup.

Elon Musk called the documentary a “hit piece” on social media when it was announced. In 2023, Gibney announced he was working on a documentary about Musk, describing it as a 'definitive and unvarnished examination' of the tech mogul. He stated that filmmakers interviewed hundreds of people on and off the record for the documentary.

“Ultimately, he didn’t want to talk to me,” Gibney said. “But then you start, you know, digging into the facts and you follow them where they lead.”

“And where they led, for me, was to a place that upended the myth, I would say, of Elon Musk as a kind of modern Leonardo da Vinci … I think that the news in this film is that Musk isn’t an inventor,” he said. “He’s a confidence man.”

Gibney responded to questions about his access with a rhetorical question. “How would you know?” he said. He noted his reaction to the subject's reluctance to engage. “I thought, wow, for such a big and powerful person, that seems awfully weak.”

Despite the serious nature of the investigation, he described the viewing experience. “But while it’s a ‘dark and dangerous topic,’ Gibney said, the film is also a ‘fun ride.’”

“You see this group of young, very young journalists who’ve just fled their country, like, on a few hours’ notice,” Loktev said. “They had the choice of, you know, stop reporting the truth about the war, which didn’t seem like a choice at all, or go to prison, or leave the country so they can keep telling the truth.”

Loktev discussed the temporal scope of her project. “It was a question of how long do you keep following? Because this takes place over four years,” she said.

“And over that time, exile becomes, of course, indefinite.” She added a perspective on the passage of time. “But, she said, ‘I hear it goes by easy.’”

“NAZA” was directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor previously co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land.” Martin McDonagh’s film “Wild Horse Nine” stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell. “Wild Horse Nine” depicts 1970s CIA agents.

Florian Zeller’s film “Bunker” stars Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Danny Boyle’s film “Ink” examines tabloid media. Lance Oppenheim’s film “Primetime” stars Robert Pattinson. Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film “Look Back” is debuting at the festival.

“Look Back” is about two small-town girls who aspire to be manga artists. Lee Chang-dong’s film “Possible Love” examines themes of labor and freedom through two married couples. Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Robert Pattinson, Rooney Mara, George Clooney, and Penélope Cruz are expected to attend the festival.

George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn will receive lifetime achievement awards at the festival. Maggie Gyllenhaal is presiding over the main competition jury. Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Johnnie To are members of the main competition jury.

In 2018, the festival signed a pledge to have at least half of the films in competition directed by women by 2020. The festival has not achieved the goal of having at least half of the competition films directed by women. There were six female-directed films in the competition last year. Only seven women have won the Golden Lion award.

Laura Poitras won the Golden Lion for "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed." Laura Poitras is returning this year with a short film she co-directed with Rachel Lauren Mueller. The short film by Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller is about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. “They’re Here” is part of the Venice Open section.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short film “Flesh Impact” is part of the Venice Open section. “Flesh Impact” is about Marilyn Monroe. Documentaries by Julia Loktev, Barbara Kopple, and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi are included in the festival lineup outside the main competition. Saoirse Ronan has a short film in the Horizons section.

Lili Horvát’s film “My Notes on Mars” opens the Venice Days section on Wednesday. “My Notes on Mars” stars Rupert Friend and Mackenzie Davis. “The story argues for great love,” Horvát said. “Yet it shows the eternal limits of knowing the person we are in love with.”

More than half of the selections in the Venice Days section are by women. “It’s good to be in a progressive section,” Horvát said. The group Venice4Palestine called on the festival to "suspend all agreements with entities and institutions linked to the Israeli government." Venice4Palestine asked that the Palestinian flag be flown throughout the festival.

No large-scale protests are planned for this year’s festival. Annie Ernaux, Roger Waters, Matteo Garrone, and Isabel Coixet signed an open letter urging the Venice Biennale and film festival to take "concrete action in support of Palestine." The open letter was organized by the Venice4Palestine collective.

Venice4Palestine previously urged the festival to withdraw invitations to Gerard Butler and Gal Gadot. Alberto Barbera described this year’s lineup as Venice’s “most political” in recent years. The festival is weighing scrapping its traditional opening jury press conference. The festival told Variety that the press conference will “probably not” take place, citing a scheduling conflict.

Why It Matters

The inclusion of Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary places a high-profile examination of a major tech figure at the center of the world’s oldest film festival. The characterization of Elon Musk as a “confidence man” rather than an inventor challenges the public narrative surrounding his role in companies like Tesla and PayPal. This framing arrives after four years of development and interviews with hundreds of sources, despite Musk’s dismissal of the project as a “hit piece.”

The festival itself operates within a context of political tension and ongoing debates regarding gender representation. With only one female director in the main competition, the event has not met its 2018 pledge for gender parity. Simultaneously, calls from groups like Venice4Palestine for concrete action regarding Israel and the presence of films addressing conflict and exile highlight the political dimensions of the 2026 lineup. The decision to alter traditional press interactions reflects an effort to manage these complex dynamics.

Timeline

Kaouther Ben Hania’s film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize last year. Then-jury president Payne said he felt “unprepared” to answer a question about the conflict.

Last year’s opening jury press conference was dominated by questions about Gaza.

Alex Gibney’s documentary about Elon Musk is included in the festival lineup. The 83rd Venice Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, on the Lido. Julia Loktev’s documentary "My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile" is included in the festival lineup.

What's New

In 2023, Alex Gibney announced he was working on a documentary about Elon Musk, describing it as a 'definitive and unvarnished examination' of the tech mogul, which had been in development for over three years before its premiere at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. The Venice Film Festival has been held annually since 1932, making it the oldest film festival in the world and a key event in the global cinematic calendar.

The documentary 'My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile,' directed by Julia Loktev, is a follow-up to her 2019 film 'My Undesirable Friends,' which explored the lives of Russian journalists under pressure from the government, and it runs for 355 minutes, making it one of the longest films in the 2026 festival lineup. The Venice Film Festival has historically faced criticism over its gender representation, with only one female director, May El-Toukhy, having a film in the main competition in 2026, despite a 2018 pledge to achieve at least 50% female-directed films by 2020. Alex Gibney's documentary about Elon Musk has been in the works for almost four years.

How Sources Differ

Sources differ on details regarding the festival lineup. One account notes that the documentary 'My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile,' directed by Julia Loktev, is a follow-up to her 2019 film 'My Undesirable Friends,' which explored the lives of Russian journalists under pressure from the government, and it runs for 355 minutes.

Sources also present different details regarding the Film Festival.