Extraordinary Women Series
A joint presentation with Back Lane Studios
Documentary with Q&A
For our post-screening Q&A, we’re excited to welcome one of the films two directors Lucah Rosenberg-Lee; trans activist Susan Gapka; and musicologist Rob Bowman, whose recorded phone interviews with Jackie underpin the documentary.
She was an R&B star. She opened and even eclipsed Etta James and Little Richard. Originally from Nashville, she considered Toronto her home.
Her name: Jackie Shane.
Jackie was a transgender soul singer when voices like hers were silenced and marginalized. Through sheer talent and charisma, she ruled the nightclub scene in this city. Busloads of fans used to come from Detroit and Buffalo. She became the first Black performer to top the charts in 1960s Toronto and to have her songs played on stations like CHUM. But in 1971 she mysteriously vanished, disappearing from public view for 40 years.
For our next Extraordinary Women event, we’re featuring the remarkable new documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story.
Despite few recordings of her legendary performances, this film brings Jackie to life in her own words through never-before-heard phone conversations, animation and a newly released song, part of a soundtrack that seals Jackie’s place as one of the great soul performers of the 20th century.
Her extraordinary life and career was marked by family secrets, loss and love. She passed up opportunities for world-wide stardom, refusing to appear on Ed Sullivan or American Bandstand because those shows demanded her to sacrifice her values and deny her authentic self.
When Jackie was finally ready for a comeback, fate had other plans.
Through this documentary, she finally gets her second act. As Jackie said: “Oh, Honey! When it comes to Jackie, look out!”