Cherub

Q&A with Cherub director Devin Shears to follow

 

In the Shadow of the Cypress
Directors: Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani • Iran • 20 minutes

Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain haunted by past trauma leads a tough and secluded life. This beautiful Iranian film took home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 2025 Academy Awards.

Cherub

Director: Devin Shears • NL/Ontario • 75 minutes

Told almost entirely without dialogue, this meditative character study follows Benjamin Turnbull as Harvey, a straight, fat man who discovers an opportunity to build new confidence in himself and his body when he learns about the chub subculture in the LGBTQ community and decides to submit a photograph of himself to a magazine's "Cherub of the Month" contest. This is Newfoundland and Labrador director Devin Shears' first feature as his Master's thesis in the Film Studies program at York University. Made with a budget of just $10,000, the film premiered at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival, was screened in the National Competition at the 2024 Festival du nouveau cinéma, and has been garnering glowing reviews at screenings worldwide.

 

Runtime: 1h34