Synopsis
NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY is an urban love story about the soul of a mother, the heart of a fighter, and the faith of a child.
JUDE is a single mother who descends from a long line of Jamaican caregivers. SILENCE is a ‘past his prime’ boxer who fights illegally to survive. CIEL is a boy who delves into music, conjuring dreams for his mother. During the last week of summer, a late-night brawl finds the fighter in the nurse’s care causing their three fates to be forever entwined.
NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY is about faith, love, and destiny. “In our current climate of war and fear, our movie is a timeless story about trust and knowing that the people you love, never really go away,” says Veninger.
“I want to show people of a different cultural background in Toronto, Canada, in the place where I was born”, says Officer. “I want to make a hopeful, but real film that deals with death and humanity. I want to humanize some black people. That’s what I really want to do – it’s my mission. I hope that this is the first step in doing that”.
CHARLES OFFICER(left) INGRID VENINGER
WRITER/DIRECTOR: CHARLES OFFICER studied visual art at Cambridge and communication design at OCAD. He worked as a graphic designer before attending the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Since then, he has appeared in stage, film and television productions. This fall, Charles will be starring in the Soulpepper production of A RAISIN IN THE SUN. Officer’s debut short, “When Morning Comes” premiered at the 2000 Toronto Int’l Film Festival to wide acclaim. In 2001, he completed the Directors Lab at the Canadian Film Centre and premiered his second film, “Short Hymn_Silent War” at TIFF 2002, where he received a Special Jury Citation for Best Canadian Short. The film screened at Sundance and was nominated for a Genie Award in 2004. A music video for K’naan “Strugglin” and television pilot “Hotel Babylon” followed. In 2006, “Hotel Vladivostok” and “Everything is Love + Fear” was co-created with Ingrid Veninger as part of an international collaboration, shot on location in Russia. In 2007, the 57th Berlinale Film Festival selected “Nurse.Fighter.Boy” to participate in the ‘Sparkling Tales’ writers lab, moderated by acclaimed film producer Fred Roos. Officer’s new documentary feature on Harry Jerome, in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, has been currently circulating in the festivals. NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY is Officer’s first feature length film.