Russian Sports Minister Calls Oscar-Award Winning Documentary 'Icarus' A 'Fantasy Film'
Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov believes Icarus, the Academy Award-winning documentary exposing Russia's state-run doping in sports, was nominated for an Oscar in the wrong category, according to The Moscow Times.
Icarus won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature on Sunday. While accepting the award, director Brian Fogel dedicated the award to former Moscow anti-doping lab director Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, who became the subject of the film for blowing the whistle on how Russia cheated at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
“The film ‘Icarus’ was given an Oscar in the wrong category," Kolobkov said.
"It’s a good fantasy film and maybe deserves an award, but not as a documentary," he added.
Rodchenkov is in hiding but presumed to be in the United States. Russia has submitted requests to Interpol for arrest warrants for Rodchenkov to be extradited from the U.S. and face criminal charges. Leonid Tygachev, a former head of Russia's Olympic Committe, has previously suggested that Rodchenkov should be "shot for lying – like Stalin would have done."
