Legends Of The Winding Roads

A captivating and emotional story about the hardship of being a rally driver under the totalitarian regime of the absurdist Soviet Union, where the military ran all forms of motorsports and the authority of the state controlled the athletes. The film also follows the rebirth and restauration of four rally cars driven by Estonian rally aces, who are the main characters in a captivating story that is so preposterous that it might seem unreal for the viewers today or anyone from the other side of the Iron Curtain.

They were talented, ambitious, addicted to speed, and driven to win. Still, they could never compete at a world-class level because they lived behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union and were forced to drive only Soviet-made rally cars. This documentary tells a captivating and emotional story about the hardship of being a rally driver and an athlete in the absurdist Soviet system in the late 70s and 80s when all forms of motorsports were run by the military.
The highest possible peak to reach was the membership status of the USSR rally team. That was every driver's dream because, living under a totalitarian regime where the citizens were not obligated to travel anywhere, racing was an opportunity to see the world behind the Iron Curtain. The competition between drivers to get into the team was fierce and ruthless for another reason –in a country where everything was in deficit, the economic well-being depended on being able to go abroad.
Though the Soviet Empire covered nearly one-sixth of the Earth's land and was made up of 15 countries, most of the drivers in the USSR Rally team were from the smallest republic of them all, Estonia.

One of the film’s focuses is the Lada VFTS – the Soviet Union's only rally car with the FIA Group B homologation. In the late 1970s, the Soviet Union began to market its flagship brand, Lada outside of its own country. The car brand was advertised via motosports with the Lada VFTS. The cars were produced in Lithuania under the leadership of the legendary 11-time Soviet champion Stasys Brundza.
The VFTS with the FIA Group B homologation was supposed to show the world how reliable a car the Lada is. The Soviet Union rally team was sent to compete in the European and World Championships in countries with Lada markets. Of course, they weren’t competing in the big, crazy Group B, but in the Group B/10 sub-class for cars with engine displacements between 1.3 and 1.6 liters. Although the Soviet Union was never a serious contender in the world of cars, let alone in motosports, some amazing results were achieved because of their ruthless drivers. Ultimately, the VFTS has become a cult object among Lada fans today.