The starting point for this investigative documentary is a fatal accident in Florida involving a Tesla with autopilot activated, which led a court to find the company partially liable. Starting from this episode, Andreas Pichler develops an extensive investigation based on material leaked by whistleblowers, internal documents and investigations by major international media outlets.
ELON MUSK UNVEILED – The Tesla Experiment reconstructs the context in which, starting in 2014, Elon Musk presented the world with the promise of a self-driving car, fuelling enthusiasm and expectations. What emerges, however, is a more complex reality: a technology not yet ready for use on the road, brought to market while customers unwittingly become part of a global experiment, providing data through their daily use. Footage from dashcams and surveillance cameras shows sudden braking, uncontrolled acceleration and serious accidents, often with dramatic results.
The film features victims and their families, as well as former Tesla employees, journalists, experts and whistleblowers, who for the first time publicly recount internal processes, corporate pressure and problematic management of safety issues. The focus is not on a single wrong decision, but on a system in which technological progress, market logic, public image building and political pressure are closely intertwined.
Long before working on ELON MUSK UNVEILED – The Tesla Experiment, Andreas Pichler had already had direct contact with Elon Musk. In 2011, he interviewed him as part of a previous project. At the time, Musk was considered a “green” technological visionary: a promising young Silicon Valley figure, symbolising technological optimism and the belief that ecological change was possible thanks to technological innovation. Pichler perceived him as an open and approachable person, convinced that electric mobility and new technologies could change the world in a sustainable way. The film traces Elon Musk's public and political transformation: from an icon of technological renewal to an increasingly polarising figure with growing influence in political debate, culminating in his support for Donald Trump, in a context that prioritises entrepreneurial success over safety standards.
The making of ELON MUSK UNVEILED – The Tesla Experiment began years later, when producer Christian Beetz and the production company beetz brothers came into contact with investigative journalists researching Tesla. The starting point was the so-called ‘Tesla Files’, a large set of internal data transmitted by whistleblower Lukasz Krupski to the German newspaper Handelsblatt. In close collaboration with journalists from Handelsblatt and, later, the New York Times, these documents were analysed, revealing thousands of complaints from Tesla customers, internal reports of technical problems and opaque management of safety issues.
With this film, Andreas Pichler returns to the central themes of his cinematic career. In documentaries such as The Venice Syndrome, The Milk System, Alcohol - The Magic Potion and, more recently, Dangerously Close, he has repeatedly investigated the functioning of economic and political systems and their often unintended consequences for people and the environment.
Vincenzo Bugno, artistic director of the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen, emphasises:
"We are delighted and proud to present Andreas Pichler's ELON MUSK UNVEILED as the opening film of the upcoming festival in Bolzano. We admire Andreas' work and feel close to his way of dealing with an often threatening present. Like his other works, MUSK UNVEILED will certainly not leave us indifferent."
The opening film marks the official start of the 39th Bolzano Film Festival Bozen (10–19 April 2026).
