Friday, December 1, 2023

Charles Officer obit

Charles Officer, ‘Akilla’s Escape’ Director, Dies at 49

The co-founder of Canada's Black Screen Office was known for films and TV series that explored themes of race and identity among Black Canadians.

 

He was not on the list.




Charles Officer, a pioneering Black Canadian film and TV director, has died. He was 49.

Officer died Friday at his home in Toronto due to complications following a lung transplant that he underwent in February 2023. That included battling an autoimmune illness.

Officer’s latest film was Akilla’s Escape, a crime noir about an urban child soldier, Akilla Brown, who captures a 15-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery. Over one night, Akilla confronts a cycle of generational violence he thought he escaped.

His breakout movie was the 2009 indie Nurse.Fighter.Boy, an urban love story that follows a widowed single mother coping with sickle cell disease who works as a night-shift nurse to support her son Ciel. When she meets Silence, a troubled and brooding boxer, their lives are changed forever.

He also directed four episodes of The Porter, the CBC/BET+ drama about railway workers from both sides of the Canadian-U.S. border creating the first black union. A co-founder of the Black Screen Office in Canada, Officer also launched and ran Canesugar Filmworks with longtime business partner Jake Yanowski.

A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre, he followed up short films with early features like the documentary Mighty Jerome and Unarmed Verses. Tributes poured in for Officer in the wake of his death.

The Toronto Black Film Festival on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: “We’re deeply saddened by the loss of Charles Officer. His impactful work in film and storytelling touched many hearts, and we were honored to present many of his films and welcomed him at TBFF back in 2013. May his legacy continue to inspire us all.”

The National Film Board of Canada also noted the passing: “Today, we mourn the passing of Canadian filmmaker Charles Officer and extend our sympathies to his loved ones.”

Actor

 

Black Tea in Bardo

Short

 

    2015

 

Ethan Hawke in Born to Be Blue (2015)

Born to Be Blue

6.8

 

    Bowling Alley Thug

 

    2015

 

Overwatch (2012)

Overwatch

6.4

Short

 

    Theo

 

    2012

 

Furstenau Mysteries

Short

 

    Furstenau

 

    2011

 

Your Beautiful Cul de Sac Home (2007)

Your Beautiful Cul de Sac Home

6.0

 

    Frances 'Church' Churchill

 

    2007

 

Kojak (2005)

Kojak

5.7

TV Series

 

    Willy Fusca

 

    2005

 

Andie MacDowell and Rosie O'Donnell in Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005)

Riding the Bus with My Sister

3.6

TV Movie

 

    Xaxier

 

    2005

 

Re-Generation (2004)

Re-Generation

5.4

 

    Charles Fielder

 

    2004

 

Trouser Accidents (2004)

Trouser Accidents

Short

 

    Peter

 

    2004

 

Sonja Smits in Bury the Lead (2002)

Bury the Lead

7.2

TV Series

 

    Russell Tyler

 

    2002–2004

 

Urda/Bone (2003)

Urda/Bone

6.0

Short

 

    2003

 

Mila Kunis in American Psycho II: All American Girl (2002)

American Psycho II: All American Girl

3.7

Video

 

    Keith

 

    2002

 

Pilot: Part 1 (2001)

Doc

5.8

TV Series

 

    Bobby

 

    2001

 

On Their Knees

6.1

 

    Family member

 

    2001

 

Gina Gershon, Juliette Lewis, and Mickey Rourke in Picture Claire (2001)

Picture Claire

5.5

 

    Cab Driver

 

    2001

 

The Art of Woo

4.2

 

    Charles Officer

 

    2001

 

When Morning Comes

7.2

Short

 

    Brother

 

    2000

 

Love Come Down (2000)

Love Come Down

5.9

 

    Guy at Club

 

    2000

 

Kari Matchett and Michael Riley in Power Play (1998)

Power Play

6.2

TV Series

 

    1999

 

Producer

 

The Art of Dance

 

    executive producer

 

    Completed

 

Enmanuel: A Migrant's Life

 

    executive producer

 

    In Production

 

    The Porter (2022)

    The Porter

 

6.4

TV Series

 

    executive producer

 

    2022

 

Akilla's Escape (2020)

Akilla's Escape

5.5

 

    producer

 

    2020

 

Nancy's Workshop

8.2

Short

 

    executive producer

 

    2019

 

Emmanuel Kabongo and Thamela Mpumlwana in A Man's Story (2016)

A Man's Story

Short

 

    executive producer

 

    2016

 

The Truth About Rainbows (2014)

The Truth About Rainbows

9.4

Short

 

    producer

 

    2014

 

100 Musicians

Short

 

    executive producer

 

    2012

 

Engraved on a Nation (2012)

Engraved on a Nation

TV Series

 

    producer

 

    2012

 

Everything Is Love and Fear (2006)

Everything Is Love and Fear

Short

 

    producer

 

    2006

 

 

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