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Legendary trans soul singer Jackie Shane is on the road again in an award-winning new feature doc. Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee’s Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story opens in Canadian cities.

PRESS RELEASE
22/07/2024

July 22, 2024 – Toronto – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee’s award-winning Banger Films/National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story is opening in cinemas across Canada beginning August 16, distributed by the NFB.

Nashville-born soul singer Jackie Shane boldly carved a new path as one of music’s pioneering Black trans performers—but on the edge of stardom, why did she suddenly leave the spotlight?

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story hands the mic over to one of the most beguiling artists of the 20th century to finally reveal her truth, in her own unmistakable voice. The film combines never-before-heard phone conversations, dazzling animation and an original score by Murray Lightburn (The Dears), in a remarkable portrait that includes Elliot Page (X-Men, The Umbrella Academy) as executive producer.

To date, Any Other Way has won the Out in the Silence Award at the Frameline International LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco as well as the DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary at Hot Docs, where it was also a Top 10 Audience Favourite. The film currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

National screening schedule
More cities to come—filmmaker Q&As at select screenings:

Additional festival screenings:

More about Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (99 min)

Directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/any-other-way-jackie-shane

  • Written and directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
  • Produced by Amanda Burt, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Michael Mabbott and Justine Pimlott (NFB)
  • Executive produced by Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn, Chanda Chevannes (NFB), Anita Lee (NFB), Elliot Page and Matt Jordan Smith (PAGEBOY Productions), Martin Katz, Nia Long and CJ Mac
  • Produced in association with Bell Media
  • Original music by Murray Lightburn
  • Animation directed by Luca Tarantini and Jared Raab

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.

Vowing to escape the Jim Crow South, Jackie joined a travelling carnival and arrived in Cornwall, Ontario, in 1959. In 1960, she moved to Montreal, joining with bandleader Frank Motley and his Motley Crew band as its singer, touring Canada and the U.S. before settling in Toronto in 1961. In an era when voices like hers were silenced and marginalized, Jackie blazed an incandescent trail to the top of the charts in 1960s Toronto, where she ruled the nightclub scene.

After mysteriously vanishing from public view for almost 40 years, this little-known icon is given her ultimate due in Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee’s remarkable documentary portrait Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, executive produced by Elliot Page.

With few recordings of her legendary performances, this film brings Jackie 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 Jackie’s place as one of the greatest soul performers of the 20th century.

The full scope of 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, Jackie 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, Jackie finally gets her second act. Or in her own words: “Oh, Honey! When it comes to Jackie, look out!”

Rave reviews for Any Other Way

“An absorbing documentary… Any Other Way combines archival materials, interviews and animated reenactments into a compelling investigation of an elusive life, as well as a talent so striking you’ll be amazed it remained forgotten for so long.”

  • Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story is an eye-opening, jaw-dropping, foot-stomping wave of jubilation that will ring forever more.”

  • Michael Talbot-Haynes, Film Threat

“Eye-opening and inspiring… (Jackie Shane is an) important figure in music and queer history and a massive talent who deserves to be heard.”

  • Michael Hollett, Next Magazine

About the filmmakers

Michael Mabbott is a Toronto-based filmmaker. His first feature, The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, which he wrote and directed, premiered at TIFF to popular and critical acclaim, receiving the Best Canadian First Feature Award. His second directorial effort, Citizen Duane, also premiered at TIFF. Michael co-created, executive-produced and directed the six-part half-hour comedy series The Yard, for HBO Canada/TMN/Movie Central. His first documentary film, Music Lessons, premiered at Hot Docs.

Lucah Rosenberg-Lee is a Toronto-based independent filmmaker, speaker and entrepreneur. Lucah was adopted from the Dominican Republic into a Toronto family, where he developed his love of activism through film and his passion to tell stories of marginalized voices. Lucah has produced and directed a variety of film projects, including Passing and For Nonna Anna, that have been screened at TIFF, Inside Out and Sundance. He specializes in both documentary and LGBTQ+ content, bringing unique stories to life, including his own. Lucah has spoken to more than 20,000 students from British Columbia to Newfoundland about his personal experience being a trans man in today’s society and the importance of LGBTQ+ representation, kindness and acceptance. Currently, Lucah is the head of brand storytelling at his own company, Monday Media, which works to create compelling pieces of digital content in the modern marketing landscape.

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French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 6,500 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.