Tracey Deer
Encyclopedia
Tracey Deer is a Mohawk
film director
and newspaper publisher. Deer has written and directed several award-winning rojects for the Aboriginal-run film and television production company, Rezolution Pictures
, as well as her own independent short work. She is the editor of the Eastern Door, published at Kahnawake, Quebec
, Canada
.
in Quebec, Canada, south of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal
. After attending local schools, she went to Dartmouth College, where she graduated with a degree in film studies.making.
Deer became the first Mohawk woman to win a Gemini Award
, for her Club Native
, a documentary on Mohawk identity, community and tribal blood quantum laws
. The film received the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
's Canada Award
for best Canadian multi-cultural program, while Deer received another Gemini for best writing. Club Native also received the award for Best Documentary at the Dreamspeakers Festival in Edmonton, the award for Best Canadian Film at the First Peoples' Festival and the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival
. The film was co-produced by Rezolution Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada
.
In her first Rezolution/NFB co-production, Deer looked at three teenage girls from her reserve who faced the same decision she did at their age: to move away and risk losing their rights as Mohawks, or stay and give up the possibilities offered by the outside world. Mohawk Girls received the Alanis Obomsawin
Best Documentary Award at the 2005 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
Deer co-directed One More River: The Deal that Split the Cree, winner of the Best Documentary Award at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
and nominated for Best Social/Political Documentary at the Gemini Awards.
joint project featuring Aboriginal talent at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Deer and Knight also worked together in 2009 on the comedy television pilot
Escape Hatch. A spin off of a short she directed in 2007, it is about four young Mohawk women at Kahnawake making their way in the 21st century, including looking for relationships.
In addition, Deer formed her own production company, Mohawk Princess Productions. She wants to independently produce her own short fiction films.
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and newspaper publisher. Deer has written and directed several award-winning rojects for the Aboriginal-run film and television production company, Rezolution Pictures
Rezolution Pictures
Rezolution Pictures is a film and television production company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, focusing primarily on Canadian Aboriginal productions. The company was founded by the husband and wife team of Ernest Webb and Catherine Bainbridge in 2001...
, as well as her own independent short work. She is the editor of the Eastern Door, published at Kahnawake, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early life and education
Tracey Deer was born in 1978 and grew up at Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserveIndian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
in Quebec, Canada, south of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. After attending local schools, she went to Dartmouth College, where she graduated with a degree in film studies.making.
Documentaries
- Kanien'kehá:ka/Living the Language (2008) - about the Kanien'kehá:ka language immersionLanguage immersionLanguage immersion is a method of teaching a second language in which the target language is used as the means of instruction. Unlike more traditional language courses, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool,...
program at AkwesasneAkwesasneThe Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...
, a Mohawk NationMohawk nationMohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
territory that covers parts of Canada and the US across the St. Lawrence River
- Club Native (2008)
Deer became the first Mohawk woman to win a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
, for her Club Native
Club Native
Club Native is a 2008 documentary film by Tracey Deer, exploring Mohawk identity, community and tribal blood quantum laws. The film looks at women how women in Deer's home community of Kahnawake risk losing their right to live on the reserve, after marrying non-natives.The film received the Canada...
, a documentary on Mohawk identity, community and tribal blood quantum laws
Blood quantum laws
Blood Quantum Laws or Indian Blood Laws is an umbrella term that describes legislation enacted in the United States to define membership in Native American tribes or nations...
. The film received the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize over 4,000 Canadian film industry and television industry professionals...
's Canada Award
Canada Award
The Canada Award is presented by Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television during its Gemini Awards to honour excellence in "mainstream" English-language television programming that "reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada." It was introduced in 1988 as the Multiculturalism Award, and...
for best Canadian multi-cultural program, while Deer received another Gemini for best writing. Club Native also received the award for Best Documentary at the Dreamspeakers Festival in Edmonton, the award for Best Canadian Film at the First Peoples' Festival and the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival
DOXA Documentary Film Festival
The DOXA Documentary Film Festival is a film festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is held annually held in May and is presented by the Documentary Media Society, a non-profit organization incorporated in 1998. DOXA is dedicated to delivering innovative and independent...
. The film was co-produced by Rezolution Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
.
- Mohawk GirlsMohawk GirlsMohawk Girls is a 2005 documentary film by Tracey Deer about the experiences of adolescent girls growing up on the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake, across the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal...
(2005)
In her first Rezolution/NFB co-production, Deer looked at three teenage girls from her reserve who faced the same decision she did at their age: to move away and risk losing their rights as Mohawks, or stay and give up the possibilities offered by the outside world. Mohawk Girls received the Alanis Obomsawin
Alanis Obomsawin
Alanis Obomsawin, OC is a Canadian filmmaker of Abenaki descent. Born in New Hampshire, and raised primarily in Quebec, she has produced and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations culture and history...
Best Documentary Award at the 2005 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
- One More River: The Deal that Split the Cree (2005)
Deer co-directed One More River: The Deal that Split the Cree, winner of the Best Documentary Award at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois
The Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois is a festival created in 1982 to celebrate the cinematographic production of Quebec, Canada.The goal of the festival is to promote the Cinema of Quebec and its makers in order to support its culture and stimulate its industry. It occurs in February, to coincide...
and nominated for Best Social/Political Documentary at the Gemini Awards.
Other film work
In 2009, Deer collaborated with Montreal writer Cynthia Knight on Crossing the Line, a live-action 3D short for Digital Nations, an NFB and Aboriginal Peoples Television NetworkAboriginal Peoples Television Network
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples...
joint project featuring Aboriginal talent at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Deer and Knight also worked together in 2009 on the comedy television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
Escape Hatch. A spin off of a short she directed in 2007, it is about four young Mohawk women at Kahnawake making their way in the 21st century, including looking for relationships.
In addition, Deer formed her own production company, Mohawk Princess Productions. She wants to independently produce her own short fiction films.