Where to start with Charles Officer's catalogue

Earlier this month, we lost Canadian filmmaker, producer and writer Charles Officer, whose award-winning work spanned features, documentary and television. 

Filmmakers Amanda Parris, Wendy 'Motion' Brathwaite and Randall 'R.T.' Thorne join Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to look back on Officer's life and legacy of centring Black voices and characters. 

Below, the panellists suggest three films to watch from Officer's catalog.

For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Nurse.Fighter.Boy

When asked for a recommendation, Thorne went back to Officer's debut feature.

"I've got to go with Nurse.Fighter.Boy," he says. "It's all right there, you know — everything that Charles stood for. And the magic of filmmaking is all in there."

Motion agrees, saying the film is evidence of how much potential Officer had as a filmmaker.

"It shows a classic development of an amazing, amazing storyteller, who is Charles, and how he was able to bring together the concept of the nurturer, the protector with the youth, or the rebirth of these archetypes," says Motion.

WATCH | Trailer for Nurse.Fighter.Boy:

"What I really love," he adds, "is also that it crosses dimension in a way that really feels personal as well as real emotional and poetic, just as Charles and his work is."

Parris says she found the film especially soothing to watch in the wake of Officer's passing.

"I rewatched Nurse.Fighter.Boy the other day, and I didn't realize how much it would be a comfort and a balm in the midst of his loss," she says.

"There's a line in there that says the people who love you never leave, and I hope that we get to keep him forever. He gave us so many gifts to do that with, too."

Unarmed Verses

After watching Nurse.Fighter.Boy, Parris recommends checking out the feature documentary Unarmed Verses.

"It's just this beautifully quiet film that really shows the essence of what — and taking this directly from [Charles] — what Black life mattering looks like," she says.

"He has a 12-year-old girl at the centre of it, and just shows her quiet, everyday life as her community is being taken away from her. It is so beautiful. It is so poetic.

"It's the kind of observational film that we often see white children or white protagonists at the centre of, but he put this young Black girl and portrayed this community in the most beautiful way, and it makes me cry every single time I watch it."

WATCH | Unarmed Verses:

100 Musicians

Motion says the short films in Officer's catalog are not to be missed. In particular, she recommends watching 100 Musicians.

"There's one where he's highlighting Planet Mars, this hidden space of the hip-hop scene in Kensington Market and its role in hip-hop in the city and in the country. Some of his short film works, I think, are definitely worth digging into the crates for."

WATCH | 100 Musicians:

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Ty Callender.