Cities can inspire hopes and dreams, so it’s no surprise that they also can inspire fantasy lives as well. This collection of documentaries offers up a unique blend of facts and fantasies involving cities in Canada.
“Seth’s Dominion” (2016)
Director Luc Chamberland sheds light on the cartoonist Seth, mixing insightful biography with vivid animation and exploring his model city named Dominion that Seth has been building for the last 10 years. In this deft portrait, Seth proves to be a wry and engaging narrator of his life story and artistic process.
“Dawson City: Frozen In Time” (2017)
This documentary pieces together the bizarre true history of a long-lost collection of nitrate film prints dating from the early 1900s found in Dawson City. The film draws on these permafrost-protected, rare silent films and newsreels, pairing them with archival footage, interviews, historical photographs and an enigmatic score.
“My Winnipeg” (2015)
Visionary Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin pays tribute to his beloved hometown with this goodbye letter and self-described “docu-fantasia” that is equal parts transcendental rumination, historical chronicle and personal portrait. What is real and what is fantasy is left up to the viewer to sort out in this hypnotic, expertly conceived paean to his hometown.
