Screening times:
Thursday, November 27, 8:30 PM - director attending!!
Devin Shears | Canada | 2024 | 73m
Devin Shears’ debut feature Cherub is a triumph. Completed as his thesis project during his MFA at York University in Toronto, the Newfoundland filmmaker made this moving, focused, and unique 73-minute film on a budget of $10,000. Following his previous work, "Grown in Darkness" (2022), Shears’ voice becomes even more assured. He strips back dialogue to carefully paint a portrait of a shy man who overcomes isolation through submitting a photograph of himself to a gay chub magazine for ‘big men and their admirers.’ It is a subtle and tender tableau of self-love and discovery in adulthood. Like the character himself, Harvey, a lab technician spending his days peering down a microscope, we watch him under a static lens moving around the Toronto landscape. It’s captured beautifully, and when paired with a wistful ambient electro-harp score by Anastasia Westcott, even an LED Bitcoin sign hanging outside a store becomes heavenly and nostalgic.
"I had the pleasure of catching this warm film at Festival de Nouveau Cinéma in 2024 and have been waiting for the opportunity to finally bring it to audiences in Kjipuktuk. Do yourself a favour and come out to this screening of CHERUB followed by an in-person Q&A with singular and utterly inspiring Atlantic writer, director, producer, and editor Devin Shears." – Brielle, Fleapit Cinema
Fleapit is partnering with the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative to organize a workshop instructed by Devin Shears on DIY Micro-Budget Feature Filmmaking. Learn more about Devin’s process by attending his workshop on the Saturday following the screening, where he’ll dive into the behind-the-scenes on how Cherub was made.
AFCOOP Workshop Details:
Workshop: DIY Micro-Budget Feature Filmmaking, instructed by Devin Shears
Saturday, November 29th from 1:30pm - 3:30pm
Location: Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative
Praise for Cherub:
"A small movie with a huge empathetic core." - Redmond Bacon, Journey into Cinema
"Shears’ big-hearted, small-scale tale of self-actualization and body positivity takes an expansive attitude toward queerness." - José Teodoro, Toronto Film Critics Association
"If art is an act of love, then Cherub is a piece of art of the highest order." - Taylor Bishop, Crossing Borders: Reviews of Contemporary World Cinema
Newfoundland & Labrador filmmaker Devin Shears made his debut feature Cherub for just $10,000 as his MFA thesis. A St. John's filmmaker currently living in Toronto, Shears completed his MFA at York University under filmmaker John Greyson's supervision. His work has screened at Vancouver International Film Festival, Atlantic Film Festival, and Image+Nation.
Devin will be attending this screening of Cherub in person for a post-film Q&A!
Tickets $12.65 ($12 cash at the door if available)
If you’re unable to pay the standard rate, send fleapit.cine@gmail.com an email and we’ll reserve a spot for PWYC on the day. Movies 4 everyone - FPC
Apologies we cannot process punch pass admissions to this event, as all ticket proceeds go to Fleapit Cinema, not Carbon Arc
