Icarus (2017 film)

Icarus
A person trying to run with its body controlled by a hand with strings wrapped around its fingers. The shadow below the person shows a Hammer and Sickle. The film's titles shows the "R" facing the opposite direction with the tagline below reading "Truth is the new banned Substance"
Film release poster
Directed byBryan Fogel
Written by
  • Bryan Fogel
  • Mark Monroe
  • Jon Bertain
  • Timothy Rode
Produced by
Cinematography
  • Jake Swantko
  • Timothy Rode
Edited by
Music byAdam Peters
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • January 20, 2017 (2017-01-20) (Sundance)
  • August 4, 2017 (2017-08-04) (United States)[1]
Running time
121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Icarus is a 2017 American documentary film by Bryan Fogel. It was an initial attempt by Fogel to expose the inadequacy of existing policies and procedures to catch athletes who use banned performance-enhancing substances. But later, the project shifted its focus after pressures related to the World Anti-Doping Agency's investigation of doping in Russia led Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory and one of Fogel's primary advisors, to flee Russia and become a whistleblower.[2]

The film premiered on January 20, 2017, at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it won The Orwell Award, a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award.[2][3][4] Its distribution rights were acquired by Netflix,[5] which released Icarus for streaming globally on August 4, 2017.[1] On March 4, 2018, the film won Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards.

  1. ^ a b "Icarus". Netflix Media Center. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Icarus". Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  3. ^ "Sundance Film Festival | About | 2017 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners". Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2017. U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award, The Orwell Award: Icarus
  4. ^ "2017 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony". Sundance Institute. January 28, 2017. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  5. ^ Lang, Brent; Setoodeh, Ramin (January 24, 2017). "Sundance: Netflix Lands Russian Doping Documentary 'Icarus' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved December 25, 2017.