Kate Solar is a filmmaker based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Her documentary and experimental film work probes the boundaries of memory and of documentation, approaching the analog film frame as tactile material to investigate the poetics of the archive. Her work often collaborates with researchers in non-art fields, seeking to bring emotional resonance to the foreground.
Solar holds a BFA in Film from NSCAD University. Her practice has been supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, Struts Gallery, the Atlantic Filmmakers' Cooperative, the Centre for Art Tapes, Lunenburg Doc Fest, Nocturne, and more.
Screenings and Collections (selected)
International Film Festival Rotterdam, NL, 2026
First Look, Museum of the Moving Image, NYC, 2026
Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, 2026
Fracto Film Fest, Berlin, DE, 2026
Courtisane Festival, Ghent, BE, 2026
Atlantic International Film Festival, Halifax, 2024 and 2025
Antimatter, Victoria, BC, 2025
Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa ON, 2024
Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival, Halifax, 2023, 2024, 2025
Winnipeg Film Group Distribution Catalogue, 2025
CBC Gem (broadcast/streaming), 2025
NSCAD University Permanent Collection, 2023
Residencies and Programs
Media Arts Production Fund, Struts Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick, 2025–2026
CFAT Media Arts Scholarship, Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2024–2025
Independent Imaging Retreat (Film Farm), Mt. Forest, Ontario, 2024
Hydrama Residency, NSCAD University / Hydrama Theatre, Greece, 2023
Media Arts Production Fund, Struts Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick, 2025–2026
CFAT Media Arts Scholarship, Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2024–2025
Independent Imaging Retreat (Film Farm), Mt. Forest, Ontario, 2024
Hydrama Residency, NSCAD University / Hydrama Theatre, Greece, 2023
Exhibitions (selected)
Nocturne Art at Night: Ground, Halifax, 2025
Imagined Territories (Media Arts Scholars’ exhibition), Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax, 2025
palimpsestos (Hydrama Residency exhibition), Port Loggia Gallery, Halifax, 2023
Imagined Territories (Media Arts Scholars’ exhibition), Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax, 2025
palimpsestos (Hydrama Residency exhibition), Port Loggia Gallery, Halifax, 2023
Memberships
Atlantic Filmmakers' Cooperative (AFCOOP), Halifax, Nova Scotia
Winnipeg Film Group, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Education
2024 – BFA in Film, NSCAD University
Governor General's Academic Medal, 2024
Grand Prize Winner of the NSCAD Student Art Award, 2023
Hydrama Residency, NSCAD University / Hydrama Theatre, Greece, 2023
Creative Innovators of Tomorrow Award, NSCAD University, 2020
Photo: Anson Chan