All About Tesla - The Research

About the Film

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)

Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) on July 10, 1856, and died January 7, 1943. He was the electrical engineer who invented the AC (alternating current) induction motor, which made the universal transmission and distribution of electricity possible. Tesla began his studies in physics and mathematics at Graz Polytechnic, and then studied philosophy at the University of Prague. He worked as an electrical engineer in Budapest, Hungary, and later in France and Germany.
In 1888 he discovered that a magnetic field could be made to rotate if two coils at right angles are supplied with AC current 90 degrees out of phase. This insight made the invention of the AC induction motor possible. The major advantage of this motor was its frictionless operation, which many at the time believed impossible. Tesla: Always current

Tesla's Legacy

George Westinghouse purchased the patents to Tesla's induction motor and made it the basis of the Westinghouse power system which underlies the modern electrical power industry to this day. Nikola Tesla also did notable research on high-voltage electricity and wireless communication; at one point he induced an earthquake which shook the ground for several miles around his New York laboratory. He also devised a system which anticipated worldwide wireless communications, fax machines, radar, radio-guided missiles and aircraft.

Director's Statement

I became interested in Nikola Tesla 20 years ago. A friend of mine had written a novel in which Tesla played an important part. I wrote the script for a feature film with all the ingredients this fascinating character offered: a genius with tremendous success, and a downfall. Happily this film was never made. After a long time working in the film industry I wanted to become a filmmaker again. I had worked on documentaries, and I sat down with my producer. Everything circled around one question: what should the film be about? From the far end of my brain a name emerged: Nikola Tesla. There he was, the character I would spend the next four years with. It became clear that Tesla is BIG. If you google Tesla, you get more than 14 million hits. What do you do with all this information? I decided to concentrate on one question: who is doing what now (with Tesla)? I went on a research tour to find interview partners. I found the most marvellous, friendly and focussed people you can imagine. Interest in Tesla was plain common sense. I met people who know a lot about the state of this planet and the things they told and demonstrated make you scared. It is a wonderful world we live in, but we have this really big problem: energy. During my research I have witnessed some phenomena which, if the technology could be realized, would be cause for hope. Tesla envisioned a peaceful world with abundant energy, without wars and the need for them. He was a true visionary, and his most interesting vision was to tap into the eternal source of energy of the Universe. Today, this is called dark energy. This energy is there, we just can’t see it. Tesla was a master of energy. I think he really felt some of the most fundamental forces. We all do. It’s all energy and we sometimes, if we’re lucky, feel it. My idea was to make people aware of Tesla’s ideas. Maybe they can help us out of the upcoming energy crisis. ALL ABOUT TESLA – THE RESEARCH became an experience of a lifetime. It’s a nice piece in time; it documents my quite adventurous and astonishing research. Commemorative theme park opened in Tesla's hometown of Smiljan, Croatia 'I have devoted much of my time during the year to the perfecting of a new small and compact apparatus by which energy in considerable amounts can now be flashed through instellar space to any distance without the slightest dispersion.“
Nikola Tesla