Check Out The Brand New Trailer for RED ARMY

From Oscar nominated and Emmy award-winning filmmakers Werner Herzog, Jerry Weintraub, and Liam Satre-Meloy, RED ARMY is a feature documentary about the Soviet Union and the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Red Army hockey team. Told from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the story portrays his transformation from national hero to political enemy.

Watch the new trailer below.

From the USSR to Russia, the film examines how sport mirrors social and cultural movements and parallels the rise and fall of the Red Army team with the Soviet Union. Red Army is about how an incredibly oppressive system produced one of the greatest teams in history.

From director Gabe Polsky (THE MOTEL LIFE), RED ARMY is an inspiring story about the Cold War played out on the ice rink, and a man who stood up to a powerful system and paved the way for change for generations of Russians.

The film screened at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Telluride and Toronto and Sony Pictures Classics will release RED ARMY in early 2015.

Viachaslav Fetisov – aka Slava Fetisov – is among the Soviet Union’s most-decorated athletes, and is considered one the best hockey players of all time. He was the long-time captain of the Soviet Union’s Red Army team, won seven world championships, two Olympic gold medals, and three Stanley Cups. He was a two-time NHL All Star and played for the USSR First All-Star Team nine times. He was one of six players voted onto to the International Ice Hockey  Federation’s Centennial All-Star Team and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

In the 1980s, Fetisov was instrumental in breaking the barrier that prevented Soviets from playing abroad. He was the first Soviet citizen to be granted a visa that allowed him to play hockey in the west. Fetisov’s efforts paved the way for thousands of Soviet and European players to play hockey in America.

After retiring as a player, Fetisov embarked on a political and executive career. He is currently a member of the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, and was instrumental in bringing the XXII Olympic Winter Games to Sochi, Russia. Fetisov is president of the professional Russian hockey Club HC CSKA Moscow, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kontinental Hockey League, and chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency Athletes Committee. He was also Minister of Sport in Russia from 2002 to 2008.

Photos – Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics