The White Crow, first trailer: watch Oleg Ivenko transform into Rudolf Nureyev

The first trailer for Ralph Fiennes' latest directorial effort, The White Crow, has been released.

Written by David Hare, the film tells the remarkable true story of Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who is played by dancer Oleg Ivenko.

Nureyev became the first Soviet artist to defect from the Soviet Union to the West during the Cold War, when he refused to return to the USSR after dancing while on tour in Paris. He was swiftly signed up to the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, and was granted asylum from the KGB.

The White Crow follows Nureyev from his poverty-stricken childhood in the city of Ufa (after being born on a Trans-Siberian train) to his arrival in Leningrad to study dance. The film looks set to paint a portrait of the artist who danced with danger, love and Parisian vice to pursue his career.

Ivenko is joined by Fiennes, AdèleExarchopoulos and fellow Russian ballet star Sergei Polunin.

The White Crow will be released on March 22.