50 | APRIL 4 • 2024 
J
N

E

ven after her untimely 
death on Christmas 
Eve 2019, Allee Willis 
continues to be larger than life. 
Growing up in Detroit, “
Alta” 
Willis was a Jewish self-pro-
fessed “outrageous tomboy” 
whose father only wanted her 
to be a teacher, like her moth-
er, get married and “be more 
feminine, like all the other 
girls.” Bold, brassy and bois-
terous, Willis struggled with 

not conforming to traditional 
sexual and gender norms. 
 A true trailblazer in the 
recording industry, she started 
out as a starving songwriter 
on food stamps in the 1970s 
in a world dominated by men. 
Recognition of her creative 
genius was long overdue, and 
Willis was finally inducted into 
the Songwriters Hall of Fame 
in 2018, the same year that she 
received the Spirit of Detroit 

Entertainment Award.
“I’m the world’s best-kept 
secret,” she’d often kibitz, 
even though she penned hun-
dreds of blockbusters includ-
ing “September,” “Boogie 
Wonderland,” “Neutron 
Dance” from the Beverly Hills 
Cop soundtrack, the theme 
from TV’s Friends and the 
Tony and Grammy Award-
winning Broadway musical 
The Color Purple.

Willis would often say, “I’m 
not going to be discovered 
artistically until after I’m gone. 
My final art piece should be 
someone putting together the 
trail that I left behind.” 
And Team Willis has done 
just that with The World 
According to Allee Willis. The 
new documentary provides 
viewers, through archival foot-
age and home movies dating 
back to the 1950s, with a raw 
and intimate look into her 
creative genius and flamboyant 
personality that was as colorful 
as her clothing and house. 
Detroiters have two shots to 
attend the Michigan premiere 
of The World According to Allee 
Willis on April 11 and 13 at 
this year’s Freep Film Festival. 
The documentary, which 
was directed, edited and 
produced by Alexis Manya 
Spraic; produced by Nicholas 
Coles and executive produced 
by Prudence Fenton, is fresh 
off its world premiere at the 
SXSW Film & TV Festival on 
March 11 in Austin, Texas. 
“Even though Allee started 
making her own documentary 
before she died, it’s like she 
really left a trail for us to pick 
up and make,” said Fenton, 
Willis’ partner of 28 years 
and an Emmy and Grammy 
Award-winning producer. 

The World According 
to Allee Willis

ARTS&LIFE
DOCUMENTARY

Documentary makes Michigan premiere 
at Freep Film Festival.

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The World According 
to Allee Willis will be 
shown April 11 and 13 at 
the Freep Film Festival.

DETAILS
You can watch The World 
According to Allee Willis at 6 
p.m. Thursday, April 11, at the 
Michigan Science Center with 
Q&A with Prudence Fenton 
and Alexis Manya Spraic; and 
5 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at 
the Birmingham 8 Powered 
by Emagine. Buy tickets at 
goelevent.com/Freep/e/
TheWorldAccordingtoAlleeWillis. 
Detailed info on all the films and 
direct links for buying tickets is 
at freepfilmfestival.com.

