Shakedown + Introduction

Drawn from over 300 hours of footage, Weinraub brings together mesmerising performances, backstage encounters, interviews and club flyers to create an atmospheric evocation of a space of rare refuge and celebration. Having worked at the club as a photographer, Weinraub offers an insider’s lens into the relationships between dancers and organisers, including Ronnie-Ron, club creator and emcee; Egypt, the star performer; Mahogany, the legendary “mother” of the community; and Jazmine, the “Queen” of Shakedown.

The erotic here is not just something to be watched, but a shared ritual between the Shakedown Angels and their audiences: a language of lap dances and stripteases that complicates the relationship between money, fantasy, labour and self-expression. Weinraub’s declared intention “to portray the before and after of a utopic moment” offers us an essential archival celebration of Black lesbian sensuality that immortalises a community in defiance of the systemic forces seeking to erase it.

This screening will be introduced by Tosin Alapafuja.

Shakedown, dir. Leilah Weinraub, USA 2018, English with subtitles, 72 min.