Mixed Reviews with Allison and Aubrey

27/02/2021

Mark your calendars for the premiere of the visual album, “Reflections Through the River”. With music by Margaret Bonds and lyrics by Langston Hughes, this short film tackles how minstrel images of Black women contribute to the violence perpetrated against them. However, despite this violence this film shows the fantasy, magic, and resiliency of Black girlhood. Join us on March 13th at 7 pm on YouTube Live at Lewis Girls Productions YouTube channel with talk back directly after with Register with the link in my bio. See you there!

Filmed by:
Starring:
Baritone:
Piano:
Percussion:
Sequential animation: .ourde.s
Sound editing:
Trailer editor: .ourde.s
Presented by:
Written and directed by: me!

27/02/2021

Our third ep of the season is now LIVE! Join us as we tackle ‘s epic biopic, “Malcolm x” (1992), just in time for the end of Black History Month. This film takes a 3 hour view of this giant’s life. Arguably Lee’s greatest film, join us as we get into this work in this week’s episode. Available on Spotify and Apple with link in bio.

20/02/2021

Our second episode of the season is now LIVE! Go check out our first minisode examining the highly anticipated film, “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021). We get into the weeds about the politics of the BBP, why this story was chosen, and the true role that Black women played in this radical movement. Link in the bio!

30/11/2020

“I just wish that when they did that as a stereotype (the bitchy light skin trope) they would clown us for things that make sense. Please clown us for our light skin nonsense cuz there’s tons of it...even in this first scene (Terry) says she’s not as good as a cook because ‘Mama had my nose in the books, and I worked my ass off so I could be successful lawyer’. That would have been a moment where you could have been like ‘Why do you think she only thought that you were the only one that should have been doing that?’ Let’s talk about the racial biases and the colorism that we even have in our own homes. The fact that you (Terry) are the most light skin so you’re (presumed) to be the most successful so I’m gonna make sure that you get a good education and I’m gonna be pushing you to do that. Why didn’t you (Big Mama) push all the kids to do that then? That would have been an opportunity to clown light skin privilege on a realistic level.”
- Allison

When we simply rely on tropes to describe colorism and light skin privilege, we completely minimize the material and violent impacts colorism has on dark skin women and all Black women. We need more films that don’t reduce colorism to “light skin women are bi***es and high maintenance” while simultaneously casting darker skinned women as “strong”, which in reality often means that they won’t hold men accountable. Films should instead examine the systems of racism and white supremacy that construct colorism and are maintained and upheld by our policies, institutions, and even our own friends and family.

What do you think about Terry’s character in “Soul Food”? Was she justly punished in this film or do we need more nuanced depictions of Black women’s experiences? What films do you know that you think tackle colorism in realistic and anti-racist ways?

Photo:

04/09/2020

Our new trailer is LIVE! You can finally get all the details on what we’ve been working on all summer. Check out our stories to hear a clip of the trailer and the link to the full trailer is in our bio. We hope that you join us as we learn more about the culture through Black cinema. We’ll see you at the movies!
New album art by Aubrey Lewis

Apple Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mixed-reviews-with-allison-aubrey/id1484593938 =Buzzsprout-5286357

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xFRmNtKBgfoMSDxlPOhWt?si=T-HantJ8S1yLVhZsSwLryA

21/08/2020

So excited to finally share with you what we’ve been working on. Keep an eye out for more details!

09/10/2019