{{Short description|Documentary about the cartoonist Seth}} {{italic title}} {{For|the model city by Seth|Seth (cartoonist)}} '''''Seth’s Dominion''''' is a 2014 National Film Board of Canada animated/live action documentary directed by Luc Chamberland about the Canadian cartoonist Seth.
==Production== ''Seth’s Dominion'' took Chamberland eight years to create, from conception to release. Chamberland first discovered the work of Seth—whose real name is Gregory Gallant—while he was living in London. Chamberland, who had aspired to being a comic book artist himself, was immediately drawn to the Ontario-born cartoonist's work:<ref name=Robb>{{cite news|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/local-arts/q-and-a-with-luc-chamberland-the-eight-year-journey-to-make-seths-dominion|title=Q&A with Luc Chamberland: The eight-year journey to make Seth's Dominion|last=Robb|first=Peter|date=17 September 2014|work=Ottawa Citizen|accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=Brownstein>{{cite news|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/life+Seth+animated/10273884/story.html|title=The life of Seth, animated|last=Brownstein|first=Bill|date=9 October 2014|work=Montreal Gazette|accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=Here was a Canadian comic book artist who was bringing a European sensibility to the graphic novel. He was just dealing with everyday life, but every little detail was magnified and sharpened and explored. I became an avid reader of his work.|sign=Luc Chamberland|source=''Ottawa Citizen'' interview}}
Chamberland first approached Seth at a comic book conference in Montreal.<ref name=Brownstein/> At first, he didn't know whether he wanted to do a film with or about Seth. The two men discussed films that had been done in the past about cartoon artists, and agreed that they didn't want to do anything remotely similar. The breakthrough for Chamberland came when Seth gave him access to his unpublished diaries, rendered in cartoon form:<ref name=Robb/>
{{Blockquote|text=Most of the writing was about memories: what memories do to us and how they influence Seth’s own work. And with that, an idea started to form for a film about how our memories shape us. We sometimes never realize that all the turmoil and angst that we keep bottled up inside might just evaporate if we could learn to control our inner demons.|sign=Luc Chamberland|source=''Ottawa Citizen'' interview}}
Chamberland worked on ''Seth's Dominion'' over a seven-year period, while teaching storyboarding and animation part-time at Concordia University and Cégep du Vieux Montréal, and doing independent commercial and TV work, including developing the pilot for the series, ''Wild Kratts''. He would film Seth approximately once a year during this time, usually over a three-day long weekend, and work with various animation teams on the film. Chamberland estimates he could have done the film in 12 to 14 months, working full-time.<ref name=Robb/>
The film combines animation and live action interviews with Seth, as well as colleagues Chester Brown and Joe Matt. In an attempt to produce the aesthetics of the comic book style—as well as Seth himself, who dresses in an early 20th century style—Chamberland used film noir style lighting for interviews, and a vintage newsreel effect for live-action sequences.<ref name="Bergeras">{{cite news|url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-droit/arts-et-spectacles/cinema/201409/17/01-4800937-reverie-dans-les-mondes-de-seth.php|title=Rêverie dans les mondes de Seth|last=Bergeras|first=Yves|date=17 September 2014|work=Le Droit|language=French|accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Mullen">{{cite news|url=http://povmagazine.com/blog/view/composing-reality|title=Composing Reality: The 2014 Ottawa International Animation Festival|last=Mullen|first=Patrick|date=25 September 2014|work=POV|publisher=Documentary Organization of Canada|accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref>
==Title== thumb|Seth's model city "Dominion" on display in Charlottetown. The film's title is a reference both to the film subject's inner world as well as a model city named Dominion that Seth has been building for the last 10 years.<ref name=Brownstein/>
==Release== The film had its world premiere on September 20 at the 2014 Ottawa International Animation Film Festival, where it would receive the grand prize for best animated feature-length film. It then screened in Montreal at the Festival du nouveau cinéma.<ref name=Brownstein/> The film's first screening outside Canada was in London at the Raindance Film Festival on October 4,<ref name=Robb/> followed by its U.S. premiere at the 2014 Animation Breakdown festival on November 22.<ref name="Beck">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/animationscoop/saturday-animation-breakdown-seths-dominion-20141122|title=Saturday @ Animation Breakdown: "Seth's Dominion"|last=Beck|first=Jerry|authorlink=Jerry Beck|date=22 November 2014|work=Animation Scoop|publisher=Indiewire|accessdate=23 November 2014}}</ref> The German premiere of the film was on May 10, 2015, at Stuttgart International Festival for Animated Films (ITFS).
The film was released on DVD by Drawn & Quarterly in 2016, and includes additional features such as photos, interviews, and a pair of Cumberland's animated short films.<ref name=Redrup>{{Cite web |url=http://thequietus.com/articles/21307-comics-graphic-novels-review-november-fantagraphics-drawn-quarterly-deborah-levy |title=Behold! November's Quietus Comics Round Up Column |author=Redrup, Pete |authorlink= |date=November 13, 2016 |publisher=The Quietus |accessdate=November 16, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Dan|title=NFB gets it right with ultimate Seth package|url=https://lfpress.com/2016/12/07/graphic-novel-nfb-gets-it-right-with-ultimate-seth-package|accessdate=16 December 2016|work=The London Free Press|date=7 December 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{NFB film|seths_dominion}} * {{IMDb title|4128156}}
{{Seth (cartoonist) navbox |state=autocollapse}}
Category:2014 films Category:2014 animated films Category:2014 short documentary films Category:Canadian animated documentary films Category:National Film Board of Canada documentaries Category:Documentary films about comics Category:Films with live action and animation Category:Cartooning Category:2010s Canadian animated films Category:Canadian short documentary films Category:2014 Canadian films