Autumn review - SETH'S DOMINION by Luc Chamberland

Luc Chamberland explores the mind of graphic novelist and cartoonist Seth in his documentary Seth's Dominion, which had its world premiere in the Autumn section of the 22nd Raindance Film Festival.
 
Good documentaries about artists can be tricky business. The best ones should, indeed, feel like collaborations between filmmaker and subject. That is exactly the strength of a film like Seth's Dominion, that is not simply content with observing the artist at work but also aims to get drawn right into his own world. By doing so, we get a true feeling of how he works, where the inspiration comes from and even what he himself thinks of his work.

 

To do so, Chamberland makes use of many creative elements. The more or less chronological structure of the film comes from the number of interviws conducted with the artist during the course of a number of years. But it doesn't end there, as with a mixture of puppetry and animation, the biographical side of the documentary gives life to the characters that have come right out of Seth's own imagination, of course by making use of the distinctive graphic style of Seth's own work. That is also how we realise how profoundly personal all his work is, and how his inspiration comes from his past and his present, as well as how much he values memories and pays such attention to detail.
 
Seth himself is a very interesting subject to begin with. His prolific body of work is also the fruit of a careful balance between financial success and professional acclaim but also of treasuring the activity of doing art for the sake of doing art. His personality is timeless, almost old fashioned. His soft spoken self is full of good nature and nostalgia. His words are filled with a depth that, as he says at some point, is at the same time profoundly funny and deeply sad. Much praise goes to Chamberland who is able to channel Seth's personality and resultant creativity with an entertaining and a times enchanting documentary.