New film sheds light on Lance Armstrong deception
- 11 years ago
Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney was not alone in being duped by Lance Armstrong and his strident denials that he had doped and cheated his way to cycling's biggest prizes over the years.
But Gibney was in a unique position as the director who had set out to make what he called a "feel-good" film about Armstrong's comeback in the Tour de France in 2009. That feel-good film was scrapped once doping allegations snowballed, a federal investigation was launched, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency confirmed he had cheated.
When Armstrong finally admitted as much to talk show host Oprah Winfrey earlier this year, the film was revived and resulted in a very different documentary called "The Armstrong Lie."
SOUNDBITE: Alex Gibney saying (English):
"The tricky aspect of doing the film was to understand that the story now was a lot about Lance's myth-making process. That's why we call it 'The Armstrong Lie,' I mean, there are a number of reasons why we call it 'The Ar
But Gibney was in a unique position as the director who had set out to make what he called a "feel-good" film about Armstrong's comeback in the Tour de France in 2009. That feel-good film was scrapped once doping allegations snowballed, a federal investigation was launched, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency confirmed he had cheated.
When Armstrong finally admitted as much to talk show host Oprah Winfrey earlier this year, the film was revived and resulted in a very different documentary called "The Armstrong Lie."
SOUNDBITE: Alex Gibney saying (English):
"The tricky aspect of doing the film was to understand that the story now was a lot about Lance's myth-making process. That's why we call it 'The Armstrong Lie,' I mean, there are a number of reasons why we call it 'The Ar