The World According to Allee Willis. Take one look at award-winning songwriter / artist Allee Willis and you see someone unafraid to be themselves. Dressed in a cacophony of prints and colors, her signature asymmetrical haircut and famed parties at her real-life Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Allee didn’t waste any opportunity to tell you what she was about.
But privately, Allee struggled with not fitting established gender and sexual norms. She buried herself in her work, until true love manifested her ultimate masterpiece — self-acceptance. Allee began filming her life in 1950s Detroit and never stopped. This film is the realization of her wish that her “final art piece be someone putting together the trail I have left behind.”
About the Film
If the name Allee Willis doesn’t immediately register with you, it’s not your fault. The music industry historically has never been kind to women, songwriters, or LGBTQ+ folks. But it’d be pretty hard to have escaped the past 50 years without having heard some of Willis’ lasting contributions to pop music and culture. From Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” to the Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance” to the theme song from the show Friends, Allee Willis was a singular musical phenom whose career defied the societal and industrial molds.
The World According to Allee Willis is both a love letter to the late artist from the famous folks who loved her — Cyndi Lauper, Alice Walker, the Pet Shop Boys, Lily Tomlin, Luenell, DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh, and Willis’ longtime partner Prudence Fenton — and a tour of Willis’ impressive archives of early video, kitsch collectibles, and musical offerings.
But above all else, it’s also an invitation to the coolest pool parties of the 80s where you could rub elbows with the likes of Elvira, Patti LaBelle, Paul Reubens, Joni Mitchell, and Debbie Harry at Willis’ astonishing Los Angeles home. Imagine a real-life Pee-wee’s Playhouse, but in pink, and you’re all set.
The World According to Allee Willis (2024)
Directed by: Alexis Spraic
Starring: Pamela Adlon, Stephen Bray, Julie Brown, Mark Cuban, Paul Feig, Prudence Fenton, Michael Patrick King, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Luenell, Mark Mothersbaugh Brenda Russell, Lily Tomlin
Screenplay by: Alexis Spraic
Cinematography by: Jerry Henry, Nick Higgins, Cinnamon Triano
Film Editing by: Spencer Bakalar, Carla Roda, Alexis Spraic
Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: November 15, 2024
Views: 25
