Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story

Chances are you’ve never heard of singer Jackie Shane, a rising star in 1950s Nashville who became a sensation in ‘60s Toronto, with a huge hit single in Any Other Way (“Tell her that I'm happy / Tell her that I'm gay / Tell her I wouldn't have it / Any other way”). However, Shane was to disappear mysteriously from public view for nigh-on 40 years.

From the producers of the Emmy Award-winning Hip-Hop Evolution (2016) and Executive Producer Elliot Page comes this stirring, Frameline “Out in the Silence Award”-winning documentary which shares the extraordinary story of a pioneering Black trans performer of exceptional talent and stage presence, who in no way hid her queerness and refused to be anyone but her authentic self. Sandra Caldwell – who recently shared her own remarkable, previously invisible trans herstory in Disclosure (2020) – and Makayla Couture give testimony to Shane’s inspirational significance and, beneath beautiful, painterly rotoscoping, embody her too, as we hear from Shane herself in never-before-heard phone conversations. We’re also treated to live recordings which leave no doubt that Jackie Shane was one of the greatest soul performers of the 20th century – period.