Joseph Tekaroniake Lazare (born June 19, 1984) is a Mohawk director, producer, writer and actor. He is a member of th
Wolf Clan

Early life

Lazare grew up in Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserve south of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

and across from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada. He began filmmaking at 12 years old through Teioiaks, a local summertime film production program. After attending Kahnawake’s local high school, Lazare left a collegiate film and television production program to intern at

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

owned and operated

Big Soul Productions Big Soul Productions is a film and television production company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is notable for being Aboriginal owned and operated. Big Soul was established in August 1999 by Laura J. Milliken and Jennifer Podemski. Prog ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Career

Lazare’s films ''To the Rescue'' and ''Mervin'' were each selected to screen at the

Toronto International Teen Movie Festival Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

(now

The YoungCuts Film Festival The YoungCuts Film Festival is an international film festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, whose mandate is to advance the careers of young filmmakers. Originally established in Toronto in 2001, the festival was created to ident ...

). After gaining attention from Bird Runningwater ( Mescalero Apachi/

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

), Associate Director of Native American and Indigenous Programs for the Sundance Institute, Lazare's ''Might of the Star Chaser'' premiered at the 2004

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. ''Might of the Star Chaser'' is a multi-platform animation that tells the story of a young space officer trying to save his planet from being destroyed by an evil lizard bent on repopulating its species. The same year, Lazare participated in CyberPowWow, an interactive visual art exhibition web-hosted by Oboro Gallery in Montreal. In 2007, along with Big Soul Productions, Lazare produced ''

By the Rapids ''By the Rapids'' is Mohawk-language animated television show that originally aired on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) from 2008 to 2012. It was the first Indigenous animated television series in Canada. The series centers on C ...

,'' a Mohawk-language children's animated series. The show was picked up by APTN and ran for 4 seasons, making it the first prime time Aboriginal animated series. ''By the Rapids'' is the story of Cory Littlehorn, a pampered urban teen, and his parents as they adjust to life with their extended family members and eccentric neighbours in a quirky Mohawk community.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazare, Joseph 1984 births First Nations filmmakers Film directors from Quebec Living people Canadian Mohawk people