New documentary honors groundbreaking transgender soul singer of the 1960s

“Tell her I’m happy. Tell her I’m gay. Tell her I wouldn’t have it any other way,” sings soul artist Jackie Shane on a live recording from the Sapphire Tavern in 1967.

This text captures the essence of a groundbreaking artist whose story is told in the new documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story. The film, which recently premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW), will premiere at the CinemaQ Film Festival in Colorado this August.

Shane was a black transgender soul singer who electrified Toronto in the 1960s before disappearing from public view.

Courtesy of Banger Films and NFB

Co-directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, the documentary uses a wealth of archival audio and interviews to paint a vivid portrait of Shane’s artistry, resilience and unwavering commitment to authenticity.

“It was one of the most remarkable pieces of music I’ve ever heard,” Mabbott said of his first encounter with Shane’s music. “It’s a live album, and it just felt like she was talking to me.”

Although she died before filming began, the film is narrated in Shane’s own voice and uses recordings of telephone conversations she and Mabbott had during the last year of her life.

“When she died and we had these beautiful recordings … it actually opened up possibilities,” Mabott said. “It’s still her voice, but it opened up possibilities that didn’t exist when she was here. And when we moved away from shooting Jackie on film, which was the goal and the dream at the time, we brought in two incredibly talented Black trans actors.”

Sandra Caldwell and Makayla Couture play Shane at different stages of her life in the film. The filmmakers used a striking visual style, employing rotoscoping animation to bring Shane’s electrifying stage presence to life and allowing Couture to convey the essence of her performances. Caldwell takes on the role of the withdrawn older woman from the phone recordings.

“There is only one recording of Jackie performing live, and yet there are all these extraordinary live audio recordings of her,” Mabbott said.

Mabbott’s co-director Lucah Rosenberg-Lee brought his unique perspective as a Black transgender filmmaker to Shane’s story, emphasizing the importance of representation in storytelling: “Part of what this film is really about is what erasure means, what the erasure of the transgender narrative is, and how all the transgender people who have lived before us and all the incredible things they’ve done, and we don’t get to know them that well,” Rosenberg-Lee said.

Born in 1940, Shane rose to popularity in Toronto’s thriving music scene in the 1960s. Her powerful voice and mesmerizing stage presence made her a local phenomenon, but as a black transgender woman in a time of intense discrimination, Shane faced major hurdles. As her fame grew, so did the pressure to give up her identity. In 1971, just on the verge of stardom, she disappeared from the spotlight and remained in relative obscurity until her death in 2019.

“For me, in many ways, it’s brave, brave, brave … to be yourself,” Rosenberg-Lee emphasized. “It’s about me being out here like she was able to be.”

The filmmakers were keen to create a balanced and layered portrait of Shane that celebrates the joy she found despite all the hardships in life and avoids, as Rosenberg-Lee put it, “the classic transgender story of pain and suffering.”

Courtesy of Banger Films and NFB

“There’s enough pain in the film for people to understand that her life wasn’t all rosy, but there’s enough joy in the film for people to understand that she chose the parts that were. She chose to tell us the parts that were exciting. She wanted those to be highlighted. She didn’t want everything to be just sad. And Michael and I were totally on the same page about that from the beginning,” Rosenberg-Lee said.

Mabbott added: “Jackie was hilarious. Jackie laughed so much. She had an incredible sense of humor. She laughed at the people who might have harmed her or who didn’t accept her. Those people were fools. Those people were afraid to be themselves and that’s why they did it.”

Shane’s story is not only a personal narrative, but also a significant chapter in LGBTQ+ and music history. As the directors note, her courage to live authentically during a time of intense discrimination paved the way for future generations of transgender artists and performers. Their documentary is both a celebration of her contributions and a reminder of the ongoing struggles the LGBTQ+ community faces.

The premiere at SXSW drew laughter and tears, proof that the film captures the complexity of Shane’s story and the enduring power of her legacy. Mabbott summed it up this way: “Jackie’s main message is live and let live. Do what you want, but be clear about what you’re doing.”

“Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story” is being shown as part of CinemaQ’s “Pay What You Can” program, which allows attendees to set their own ticket price for certain films. Keith Garcia, artistic director of the Sie Film Center and founder of CinemaQ, said this was a conscious decision to ensure cost was not a barrier to access.

“As we try to really expand that part for the community, with our sliding ticket price scale for some of these films, we’re really just creating an opportunity for people to say, ‘I definitely want to do it, but if your financial means are a little limited, we don’t want to turn anyone away,'” Garcia said.

Courtesy of Banger Films and NFB

This year marks the 16th anniversary of the Cinema Q film festival. In Garcia’s words, it is “a great starting point for what I believe will be an even better future.” Garcia added that this year’s festival focuses on “a great diversity of all colors and flavors of the queer community.”

Ultimately, Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story is both a tribute to a forgotten icon and a call to action, encouraging viewers to embrace their individuality, challenge societal norms and celebrate the power of authenticity.

“I want to inspire people all over the world to do what they want to do on their own terms,” Mabbott explained.

“I would love for LGBT people, black people – but also people who don’t fit into those categories – to see it and feel connected to the story,” Rosenberg-Lee added, “that it might change their minds about how they’ve thought about gender roles in the past or how they think about their own lives and their own gender or sexuality.”

The CinemaQ screening of Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story will be held on Saturday, August 10 at 1 p.m. at the Sie Center in Denver.