Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story won the Rogers Best Canadian Documentary Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association. The $50,000 prize was announced by presenter Rick Mercer on Monday, February 24 at the TFCA’s annual gala at the Omni King Edward Hotel. Actor Tamara Podemski (Outer Range) hosted the festivities.
Directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, Any Other Way tells the story of R&B singer Jackie Shane who wowed the Toronto scene in the early 1960s, breaking ground as an out Black trans performer, but retreated from the spotlight while on the cusp of fame. The documentary brings Shane’s story to life in her own words using audio conversations with Mabbott recorded prior to the singer’s death in 2019. The film uses animation and re-enactments with drag performer Makayla Couture alongside an array of archival photos from Shane’s past.
Any Other Way is a co-production of the National Film Board of Canada and Banger Films. Its producers are Amanda Burt, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, and Justine Pimlott with Chanda Chevannes, Elliot Page, and Matt Jordan Smith as executive producers alongside Dunn and McFadyen. The doc is now streaming on Crave.
The honour marked the second edition of the Rogers Best Canadian Documentary award after the sponsor split the prizes last year to honour both documentary and drama. Swan Song won the prize last year.
Also nominated for the Rogers prize were documentaries Yintah and Your Tomorrow. Both films received a cash prize of $5,000, courtesy of Rogers.
The dramatic companion of the award, Rogers Best Canadian Film, went to Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language. The Winnipeg-set Farsi farce also scored $50,000. Runners-up Shepherds and Rumours received $5,000.
Other documentary highlights at the event included the selection of Vancouver’s Leena Minifie as the pay-it-forward candidate selected by Company 3 Luminary Award winner Tonya Williams, founder of the Reelworld Film Festival. Minifie receives $50,000 in services from Company 3.
Attendees at the event included filmmaker RaMell Ross, whose Nickel Boys won three prizes including Best Picture. Ross had a breakout with the documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening. The TFCA’s Allan King Documentary Award, announced previously, went to Mati Diop’s Dahomey.
