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Weinraub
Leilah Weinraub’s Shakedown reveals a liberating L.A. underground scene created by and for queer black women.
HE WOMEN ARE SEXY, THEY’RE FINE,” DECLARES that people who don’t find themselves represented in a space, one enthusiastic patron at the weekly underground have to create that space for themselves. ladies-for-ladies party that provides the title of “They had to know that it was not going to be something Leilah Weinraub’s acclaimed documentary Shakedown. The that someone else was going to do for them. They had to see Shakedown parties, featuring a tight team of it, and invent it, and make it happen,” she Click Here to female exotic dancers known as the Angels, says. “That's one thing I was trying to deliver are long since past. But Weinraub’s film, this Watch “Shakedown” in the film, is a legend or a map to autonomy month’s Reel Affirmations Xtra Film Series in a way. And that it's not really given. It's selection, captures the lightning-in-a-bottle thrill of freedom something you have to decide and make. And it comes together. and belonging that the events brought to an underserved pop- There's a genesis.” ulation within the Los Angeles LGBTQ community of the early Shakedown reflects not only the fruits of lesbian party pro’00s. As that same lovely partygoer points out in the film, “there’s moter Ronnie-Ron’s DIY labors, but the end of her party as well. not that many gay clubs where you can go and just be yourself, However, that might not spell the end of the story for Weinraub, and that’s in the hood. Every other club is in Hollywood or Santa who’s considering Shakedown for a narrative feature adaptation. Monica. It’s like, you need somewhere that’s in the hood.” “I love the story, and the people in it, and the world,” she says. Weinraub, a biracial black filmmaker and artist who grew up “And it was a really important piece of work for me because it in L.A., says it took effort at the time to connect with a scene that taught me...a lot of different things. But the process taught me represented her and her preferences. “Shakedown was under- how to be a director. And so if I was to be able to work with the ground, and I had to look for it,” she says. And she recognized story more, I would be lucky, I think.” — André Hereford Shakedown is not rated, and screens virtually via online portal starting Friday, May 29. Virtual tickets are $12, and good for 72 hours. Visit www.reelaffirmationsfilmfestival.vhx.tv.
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MAY 28, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
