Shakedown

A documentary feature built from more than 300 hours of footage, weaving together performances, backstage moments, interviews and club flyers into an atmospheric portrait of a space of refuge and celebration. Director Leilah Weinraub, who worked at the club as a photographer, brings an insider's view of the bonds between dancers and organisers, among them club creator and emcee Ronnie-Ron, star performer Egypt, community 'mother' Mahogany and 'Queen' of Shakedown Jazmine. The film presents eroticism as a shared ritual between the Shakedown Angels and their audiences, a language of lap dances and stripteases that complicates money, fantasy, labour and self-expression. It stands as an archival celebration of Black lesbian sensuality, preserving a community in defiance of the forces that seek to erase it.