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Witch Woman

"A dazzling, contemporary style of stop-motion animation is used to depict one of the oldest stories dating back to ancient times: men's fear of women and of the power of motherhood. In the film, people and objects glide and stutter through space, fluid and staccato at the same time, as the reality around them warps and shifts."

- Christopher Rohde, Mirror Mountain Film Festival

  • Pixie Cram
    Director
  • Pixie Cram
    Writer
  • Pixie Cram
    Producer
  • Myrielle Bernier-Acuna
    Key Cast
    "Midwife"
  • Tina Le Moine
    Animators
  • Rachel Gray
    Animators
  • Adam Saikaley
    Music
  • Mike Essoudry
    Music
  • Kevin Komaranski
    Sound Design
  • Thea Yeatman
    Costumes
  • Gabby Ewen
    Props
  • Pixie Cram
    Editing
  • Kara Blake
    Editing
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Ottawa International Animation Festival
    Ottawa
    Canada
    September 22, 2022
    World Premiere
    Official Selection - Canadian Panorama
  • Les Sommets du cinéma d'animation
    Montréal
    Canada
    May 13, 2023
    Québec Premiere
    Official Selection - Canadian Competition
  • Dawson City International Short Film Festival
    Dawson City
    Canada
    April 14, 2023
    Yukon Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Mirror Mountain Film Festival
    Ottawa
    Canada
    July 21, 2023
    Official Selection - Best Local Film Nominee
  • Vidéo de femmes dans le parc
    Montreal
    Canada
    October 11, 2023
  • OurToba Film Fest
    Winnipeg
    Canada
    June 8, 2024
    Manitoba Premiere
    Winner: Best Film
  • Nickel Independent Film Festival
    St. John's
    Canada
    June 15, 2024
    Atlantic Canada Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Gimli International Film Festival
    Gimli, Manitoba
    Canada
    July 24, 2024
    Program: Best of Manitoba Film Festivals
  • Fluxus Experimental Film Festival
    Hamilton, Ontario
    Canada
    September 20, 2024
    Southern Ontario
    Official Selection
  • Cindependent Film Festival
    Cincinnati
    United States
    September 21, 2024
    US Premiere
    Nominated for Best Off-Kilter Short
  • Montana Film Festival
    Misoula
    United States
    October 5, 2024
    Montana Premiere
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Winnipeg Film Group
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Pixie Cram

Pixie Cram is a writer-director, media artist and stop-motion animator who lives in Ottawa. Her films range from live action fiction, to object stop-motion, to pixilation experiments with actors. Her work has screened at festivals and art galleries across Canada as well as in the US, Europe and China. On top of her own art practice, she works as a freelance videographer and editor.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Witch Woman grew out of pixilation experiments with dancers that I conducted in the summer of 2020. Convinced that the techniques we explored would lend themselves well to a story about magical occurrences, spectral evidence, and hysteria, I arrived at the theme of the 17th Century Witch Hunts. In my research I learned that midwives were among the most persecuted because of their intimate knowledge of childbirth and of plants that could alter the course of a pregnancy. This became the subject matter of the film.

Please note that there is a section in the film where a garbled Russian nursery rhyme is spoken by faces that appear on the wall. This is intended as an incantation, a musical element, and is not intended to be understood by the audience. I created subtitles for this section but ultimately decided not to use them as it placed the emphasis on reading the words instead of experiencing the scene.
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Witch Woman est née d'expériences de pixilation avec des danseurs que j'ai menées au cours de l'été 2020. Convaincue que les techniques que nous avons explorées se prêteraient bien à une histoire sur les événements magiques, les preuves spectrales et l'hystérie, j'ai choisi le thème de la chasse aux sorcières au XVIIe siècle. Au cours de mes recherches, j'ai appris que les sages-femmes étaient parmi les plus persécutées en raison de leur connaissance intime de l'accouchement et des plantes susceptibles de modifier le cours d'une grossesse. C'est ce qui est devenu le sujet du film.

Veuillez noter qu'il y a une section du film où une comptine russe brouillée est prononcée par des visages qui apparaissent sur le mur. Il s'agit d'une incantation, d'un élément musical, qui n'est pas destiné à être compris par le public. J'ai créé des sous-titres pour cette section, mais j'ai finalement décidé de ne pas les utiliser car cela mettait l'accent sur la lecture des mots plutôt que sur l'expérience de la scène.