The film focuses on Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of Russia’s anti-doping agency, who blew the whistle on the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by many Russian athletes.
Icarus director Bryan Fogel thanked Rodchenkov during his acceptance speech and said that the whistleblower now lives in “great danger” for his actions.
Netflix documentaries have been nominated for Oscars before, and won last year for the documentary short The White Helmets, but Icarus, the documentary about the Russian sports doping scandal that impacted the recent Winter Olympic Games, was the winner last night in the feature category.