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State handouts, 10,000 lasers – and Trump’s election: six things we learned from the Elon Musk film

Alex Gibney’s marathon documentary delivers numerous eye-raising insights into the broligarch’s business deals, early idealism and apocalyptic appetite for fathering children

Veteran documentarian Alex Gibney’s film about the richest broligarch on the planet has been one of the most eagerly anticipated films at the Venice film festival this year. The Oscar-winning 72-year-old, who has in previous films taken on the US military, the Catholic church, Vladimir Putin and Scientology, has been investigating the tech tycoon’s ascent and speaking to people in his orbit since late 2022, before his Maga turn and Trump 2.0.

The result clocks in at just under four hours and presents a comprehensive answer to how on earth one man managed to amass so much money and political influence. It is shocking less for any individual new pieces of information Gibney has unearthed than for its totality. Here are six things the film tells us:

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Β© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Β© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Β© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

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β€˜You notice the quiet’: Lorde and Little Simz to star at festival run on green power

A zero-emission compact hydrogen power plant will drive the two stages at Clifton Down in Bristol

When Lorde, Little Simz and Wet Leg stride on to stages in Bristol this weekend, they will not only be entertaining tens of thousands of festivalgoers but taking part in what is being billed as a world-first clean power project.

The two stages at Forwards festival on Clifton Down are being driven almost entirely by green power – a combination of hydrogen and mobile batteries charged with sustainable energy.

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Β© Photograph: Kristian Buus/In Pictures/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: Kristian Buus/In Pictures/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: Kristian Buus/In Pictures/Getty Images

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