29. Tracey Deer

Tracey Deer (Mohawk) is a young filmmaker from the Kahnawake reserve, outside Montreal in Quebec.

Kahnawake is where she grew up and where she started making her own films at the somewhat precocious age of 12. She went on to soak up media classes in high school and graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Film Studies. After starting as a camera assistant with Resolution Pictures she quickly moved into a position of assistant director and soon directed her own documentaries co-produced with the National Film Board.

Her first film, Mohawk Girls challenged more than a few unwritten rules and taboos, and set the stage for Tracey’s next film.

Club Native tackles the controversial issues of “blood quantum” and community membership – who is native, and who doesn’t make the cut. Tracey Deers is one of those on the cutting edge of The Next Wave of Storytellers.

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