Thunderbirds in China

Author of one of the major novels of the century, Under the Volcano, Malcolm Lowry fought a winning battle with words, and a losing battle with liquor. On-location shooting in four countries, photographs, readings by Richard Burton from Lowry's novel, and interviews with the people who loved and hated him give the film a terrifying immediacy. More than a portrait, it is a reflection on the greater agony of man.

Reflecting our society, the world of junior hockey seems more and more obsessed with competition. Without making any judgments, Junior gives us a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at our national sport. Taking in one complete season with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, this film reveals the daily lives of managers and players on this Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team. This documentary marries the steady pace of fiction films with the sensitive eye of the ?direct cinema? tradition. It intentionally shows no scenes of hockey being played, yet proves that what happens off the ice is no less exciting. Admired and treated like professionals, junior hockey players are already stars whose lives have very little margin of error. They are also teenagers as young as 16, who are already gambling with their future. Trainers, shareholders, agents, scouts and parents: all eyes are fixed on these elite young players, even though only a tiny number of them will succeed in playing at the highest level. By intercutting evocative images and making effective symbolic links, Junior offers a real-life portrait of an environment that engenders deep emotions despite its rough exterior.

Josh Crooks is a promising teen hockey star in a sport where Black players like him are chronically underrepresented. Ice Breakers reveals the buried history of a pioneering Black hockey league in Atlantic Canada, as Crooks discovers that his unshakable passion is tied to a rich and remarkable heritage.