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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