A star is reborn. With an outsize stage presence that eclipsed R&B greats like Etta James and Little Richard, Black trans soul singer Jackie Shane was the real deal. After mysteriously vanishing from public view for almost 40 years, this little-known icon is given her ultimate due in a remarkable documentary portrait. In an era when voices like hers were silenced and marginalised, Shane blazed an incandescent trail from her native Nashville to the top of the charts in 1960s Toronto, where she ruled the nightclub scene. With few recordings of her legendary performances, this film brings Shane to life in her own words through never-before-heard phone conversations, dazzling rotoscope animation and a newly released song, part of an incredible soundtrack that seals her place as one of the greatest soul performers of the 20th century. Her extraordinary life and career is an epic journey, marked by family secrets, loss and love. From standing down the mob to telling off Ed Sullivan, she lived as her most authentic self through talent, courage and an unbreakable commitment to truth. But on the eve of her return to the stage, fate had other plans. In Any Other Way, she finally gets her second act. Or in her own words: “Oh, honey! When it comes to Jackie, look out!”
Dir. Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, Canada, 2024, 98 mins