Documentarian Abe Polsky, who made the acclaimed Red Army about the great Soviet hockey team, returns to Russia just after the fall of communism, to tell a very different true tale: a wild culture-clash dark comedy where voracious American capitalism meets lawless Russian corruption, with results as lucrative as they are lethal. With the Red Army team in disarray after its stars depart for the NHL, the owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins smell potential profits and go 50/50 with the Russians to revive the sport. With aggressive New York marketing whiz Steven Warshaw as their point man, the Americans bring American razzle-dazzle to the sport — stripper cheerleaders, free beer, champagne-serving bears — and the money starts pouring in. The big bucks pique the interest of companies like Disney and Nike, that is until the Russian Mafia elbow into the picture and dead bodies start to pile up. Chillingly entertaining, Red Penguins must be seen to be believed.

In competition for the Best Documentary Award