Crave to Offer Documentaries on Wilfred Buck & Jackie Shane in December

Acclaimed documentary portraits of two trailblazing figures, co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), will be streaming on Crave starting Monday, December 2nd, and Monday, December 9th.

Available December 2nd, Lisa Jackson’s Wilfred Buck (Door Number 3 Productions/NFB in association with Crave) is a hybrid, time-travelling road trip into the stellar life of charismatic Cree Elder, star expert and ceremonial leader Wilfred Buck.

Then, one week later, on December 9th, a trans soul-singing legend finally gets her second act in Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee’s multi-award-winning Crave Original documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (Banger Films/NFB), executive produced by Elliot Page.

Streaming December 2nd on Crave:

Wilfred Buck by Lisa Jackson (92 min)

Producers: Lisa Jackson (Door Number 3 Productions), Lauren Grant (Clique Pictures); Alicia Smith (NFB)

• He’s from the “fresh-out-of-the-bush, partly civilized, colonized, displaced people,” and he’s here to take us to the stars. Lisa Jackson’s portrait of Cree Elder Wilfred Buck moves between earth and sky, past and present, bringing to life ancient teachings of Indigenous astronomy and cosmology to tell a story that spans generations.

• Adapted from his freewheeling memoir I Have Lived Four Lives, a beat poet’s insider view of colonization that took Buck from the land to the streets to the stars, the film blends verité, archive and stylized re-enactments to reveal what it means to heal and reconnect with Indigenous knowledge that is as relevant today as ever.

• Wilfred Buck had its world premiere at the CPH: DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, followed by its North American premiere at Hot Docs. The film received the Best Canadian Documentary Award at the Calgary International Film Festival, the Montagnes du Monde Award for Best Foreign Film at the Cervino CineMountain Festival in Italy, and a Special Jury Mention for the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Director at DOXA in Vancouver, and was a Top 5 Audience Favourite at Hot Docs.

• Lisa Jackson is an Anishinaabe (Aamjiwnaang) filmmaker whose work has garnered two Canadian Screen Awards, been nominated for a Webby and screened at top festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, London BFI, and Hot Docs. Her 2018 NFB VR experience Biidaaban: First Light was viewed by more than 25,000 people, while her film Indictment won Best Doc at imagineNATIVE. Jackson has been honoured with the 2022 Chicken & Egg Award as well as the 2021 DOC Vanguard Award.

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story artwork

Streaming December 9th on Crave:

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee (99 min)

Produced by Amanda Burt, Sam Dunn, and Scot McFadyen (Banger Films); Michael Mabbott; Justine Pimlott (NFB)

Executive produced by Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn, Chanda Chevannes (NFB), Anita Lee (NFB), Elliot Page and Matt Jordan Smith (PAGEBOY Productions), Martin Katz, Nia Long, and CJ Mac.

• A star is reborn. With an outsize stage presence that eclipsed R&B greats like Etta James and Little Richard, soul singer Jackie Shane was the real deal. Jackie boldly carved a new path as one of music’s trailblazing Black trans performers—but on the edge of stardom, why did she suddenly leave the spotlight?

• Any Other Way has received over 10 awards and nominations at more than 35 festivals. In Canada, it won the DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary at Hot Docs, where it was also a Top 10 Audience Favourite, and was named Best Documentary Feature at the Edmonton International Film Festival. It was just nominated for Best Music Documentary at the International Documentary Association Awards and has won the Out in the Silence Award at the Frameline International LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco, the Audience Award for Best Music Documentary at the Nashville Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, and Best Doc at London’s Doc’n Roll Film Festival.

• Toronto filmmaker Michael Mabbott’s features The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico (Best Canadian First Feature Award) and Citizen Duane both premiered at TIFF. His first documentary, Music Lessons, premiered at Hot Docs.

• Lucah Rosenberg-Lee is a Toronto speaker, entrepreneur and filmmaker specializing in documentary and LGBTQ+ content. He has produced and directed a variety of projects including Passing and For Nonna Anna, which have screened at TIFF, Inside Out, and Sundance.