Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché (2021) (12A)

SCREENING AS PART OF FROM PAGE TO SCREEN FILM FESTIVAL

Tickets: Adult £12 | Cons & U25’s £10

Plus Q&A with Director Paul Sng

Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the front woman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afro-punk movements. But the late punk maverick didn’t just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and her mother’s demons. Misogyny, racism and mental illness plagued Poly’s life, scarring Celeste’s childhood and the pair’s relationship.

Winner of two independent film awards including Best Documentary and featuring unseen archive material, the film is narrated by Oscar nominee Ruth Negga, and follows Celeste as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.

Join us after the screening as we talk to the films director, Paul Sng.

To celebrate punk, Clocktower Records will have a special pop-up punk stall at the screening plus a display of records, souvenirs and photographs from this fascinating era.

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