Jean-Claude Lauzon (September 29, 1953 – August 10, 1997) was a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter. Born to a working class family in Montreal, Quebec, Lauzon dropped out of high school and worked various jobs before studying film at the Université du Québec à Montréal. His two feature-length films, Night Zoo (1987) and Léolo (1992), established him as one of the most important Canadian directors of his generation. American film critic Roger Ebert wrote that "Lauzon is so motivated by his resentments and desires that everything he creates is pressed into the cause and filled with passion."His film Léolo is widely considered to be one of the best Canadian films of all time. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, and was included on Time's list of the 100 greatest films that were released between March 3, 1923—when the first issue of Time was published—and early 2005, when the list was compiled.Lauzon's career was cut short by his death in a plane crash in 1997 at the age of 43.