A Black Trans ’60s Soul Singer Gets a Tribute in ‘Any Other Way,’ Executive-Produced by Elliot Page — Watch the Trailer

Now in its 48th year, the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco once again celebrates LGBTQ stories and voices, starting with a free Juneteenth block party featuring movies and music. But the festival also screens “Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story” as the third annual recipient of the Out in the Silence Award on June 23 at the iconic Palace of Fine Arts. Directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee and with executive producers including Elliot Page, “Any Other Way” is a documentary portrait of ’60s Black trans soul singer Jackie Shane, and it’s been acclaimed on the festival circuit so far with appearances at Hot Docs and SXSW. In celebration of Pride month and Juneteenth, IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for the documentary below.

Why did R&B singer Jackie Shane, who died in 2019, disappear from the limelight after rousing audiences in the 1960s? That’s the question explored by Mabbott and Rosenberg-Lee through never-before-heard recorded phone conversations, rotoscope-animated reenactments featuring Sandra Caldwell as Jackie later in her life, with Makayla Couture playing Jackie’s younger self. Plus, the soundtrack comes from Jackie herself, who eventually found posthumous recognition among queer historians and now receives her first documentary portrait.

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The Out in the Silence award is given by Frameline to “an outstanding film project that highlights brave acts of LGBTQ+ visibility in places where such acts are not common,” per the festival’s website. Last year’s prize went to Babatunde Apalowo, director of the Nigerian gay romance “All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White.”

Additionally, on July 17, the Grammy Museum will host the Los Angeles premiere of “Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story” at the 200-seat Clive Davis Theater at L.A. LIVE downtown as part of the Museum’s Reel to Reel programming. Afterward, filmmaker Michael Mabbott will explore the creative process behind the film in a panel discussion, and the evening will be followed by a tribute performance of one of Shane’s Grammy-nominated songs. Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 22 at 12 p.m. PT. More information can be found via the Grammys’ official website for the Clive Davis Theater here.

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