Congratulations to filmmaker Bryan Fogel for being in the right place at the right time. His new film Icarus was an attempt to explore performance enhancing drugs in the amateur cycling world by subjecting himself to years of injections.  A series of unlikely events connected Bryan with Russia’s leading doping expert just as the Russia was being investigated for doping allegations. Bryan went on to win The Sundance Film Festival and received five million dollars from Netflix for the sale of Icarus. He is now working on a TV series based on the Russian doping scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov. Available on Netflix today.

Via BryanFogul.com:

The ruthless worlds of international sports and politics rarely collide as spectacularly on screen as they do in Bryan Fogel’s thriller that is sure to set off convulsions of controversy.

While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s “anti-doping” program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine samples, and badly administered hormone injections, Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer despite shocking allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program. When the truth is more complex than imagined, and accusations of illegalities run to Russia’s highest chains of command, the two realize they hold the power to reveal the biggest international sports scandal in living memory.

Exemplifying the special bond between filmmaker and subject, this is a vital portrait of the sacrifice some people will make to stand up for truth. ICARUS places you at the heart of an international game of cat and mouse, where a miscalculation can cost you your life.