About the Film

Poly Styrene was the first woman of color 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 identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements. Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows the singer’s daughter Celeste Bell as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.

The award-winning music documentary Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché carries a subtext that bears important messages regarding the inherent injustice in the common attitudes towards women rock musicians.

⚠️ The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the participation of the filmmakers.