Underplayed Gems

Red Penguins (2019)

Red Penguins poster
Directed by
Gabe Polsky
Genre
documentary film, sport film
Country
Germany, United States
Runtime
1h 20m
Rated
12
Rating
5.2 of 10 from 8 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary recounts a bizarre business deal after the Soviet Union fell. The Pittsburgh Penguins partnered with the legendary Red Army hockey team, and an American marketer tried to turn it into a wild spectacle. The film uses archival footage to show the strange mix of capitalism and Cold War history.

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What happens

Red Penguins is a 2019 sports documentary film written, produced and directed by Gabe Polsky, in co-production with Studio Hamburg Enterprises and Norddeutscher Rundfunk. The film premiered on September 5, 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival. It received Writers Guild of America and Critics Choice awards nominations. Red Penguins tells the story of opportunism run amok in 1990s Moscow. Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ice hockey teams Pittsburgh Penguins and the CSKA Moscow (also known in the West as the Red Army team) formed a joint venture. American marketer Steve Warshaw was sent to Moscow and was tasked to transform the team into the greatest show in Russia, attracting some of the biggest names in Hollywood and advertising along the way. The film uses archival footage and features the 2006 Gogol Bordello song "Start Wearing Purple". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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