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Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅

Play trailer Poster for Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅 Released Feb 4, 2022,  1h 29m,  Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 98% 56 Reviews Tomatometer 89% Popcornmeter
98% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
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. 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, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste's childhood and the pair's relationship. Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary 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.

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Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅

Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅

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Critics Consensus

Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅 pays worthy tribute to its trailblazing subject with a documentary that honors her life as engagingly as it chronicles her career.

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Critics Reviews

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Lisa Kennedy New York Times More than a journeyman rockumentary, 鈥淧oly Styrene鈥� is a thoughtfully finessed filial reckoning: a daughter鈥檚 journey toward understanding her mother as a young artist and as a young woman of color. Feb 3, 2022 Full Review Glenn Kenny RogerEbert.com This is not a banal or mundane fake-objective music history doc: it's an almost real-time chronicle of a daughter coming to grips with a mother's legacy. Rated: 3/4 •  Feb 2, 2022 Full Review
Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅

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Cast & Crew

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Celeste Bell

Director

Paul Sng

Director

Ruth Negga

Voice of Poly Styrene

Thurston Moore

Actor

Kathleen Hanna

Actor

Vivienne Westwood

Actor

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Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich茅

Movie Info

Synopsis 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. 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, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste's childhood and the pair's relationship. Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary 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.
Director
Celeste Bell, Paul Sng
Producer
Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Daria Nitsche, Matthew Silverman
Screenwriter
Celeste Bell, Zo毛 Howe
Distributor
Utopia
Production Co
Velvet Joy Productions, Generation Indigo Films, Tyke Films, Polydoc Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 4, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 11, 2025
Runtime
1h 29m
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