Icarus (2017 film)

Icarus
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)
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.

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. Its distribution rights were acquired by Netflix, which released Icarus for streaming globally on August 4, 2017. On March 4, 2018, the film won Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards.