Discover the vision of Ottawa filmmaker Pixie Cram
OTTAWA, ON – Ottawa’s Pixie Cram will open the 26th season of Café Ex at 7:00 PM on December 10, 2024, at Club SAW. A longstanding and key figure in Ottawa’s active independent media arts community, Cram’s inventive works explore themes of identity, gender politics, history, women’s rights, nature, and technology. The ongoing visiting artist series organized by the Canadian Film Institute (CFI) will screen seven films from Cram’s catalogue at the “Pick-Your-Price” event. Cram will also be at the event to introduce and discuss her films with the audience.
“Pixie Cram’s remarkably inventive and diverse range of work makes her a perfect guest artist to open our 26th season of Café Ex,” says CFI Executive Director, Tom McSorley, who adds, “Although we’ve previously shown her animated short films as part of our Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), we think the time is right for a celebration of her daring work in the short dramatic and experimental forms that she has been exploring for over two decades.”
Working in documentary, short drama, experimental, and animation modes, Cram’s versatile and engaging work offers passionate, poetic explorations of everything from motherhood to childhood to Joan of Arc to the Cold War to midwifery. Her films have been screened at festivals and galleries across Canada and internationally, including Interfilm Berlin, Filmfest Dresden, Animafest Cyprus, and the OIAF.
An ongoing visiting artist series, Café Ex presents artist-curated evenings of independent experimental film and video in an intimate atmosphere. The series features Canadian experimental cinema, with guest filmmakers presenting their work and engaging with audience members. Past guest filmmakers include Madi Piller, Matthew Rankin, Trevor Anderson, and Theodor Ushev, among others.
In addition to Cram, the latest season of Café Ex will feature Toronto experimental filmmaker and Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts winner, Mike Hoolboom. Hoolboom will show a selection of his recent works in April 2025; the screening will also include a CFI-supported book dedicated to his impressive career, Mike Hoolboom: Work. In May 2025, Café Ex will continue with the work of Edmonton-based filmmaker Christina Battle, who will be in Ottawa to introduce and discuss her films. Admission to Café Ex is a “Pick-Your-Price” model. Tickets can be ordered online in advance or at the door.
