Charles Lane (born December 26, 1953) is an African-American actor and filmmaker. While attending SUNY Purchase as a film student, he made a short titled "A Place in Time" based on the famous Kitty Genovese incident.

This short gained him a certain amount of attention, including a student Academy Award win. Lane then directed and starred in feature films True Identity, a vehicle for British comedian Lenny Henry funded by the Walt Disney Company, and Sidewalk Stories, the later of which won several awards, including one at the Cannes Film Festival.[1] This modern-day, silent black-and-white story of a homeless man and a little girl he tries to help was released by Palm Pictures, but is now out-of-print.