Punk Icon Doc ‘Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché’ To Hit Theaters For On Feb. 2
Hitting theaters on Feb. 2 for one night only followed by a wide on-demand release on Feb. 4 by Utopia Media is the documentary POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ by filmmakers Celeste Bell and Paul Sng.
Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché is an intimate portrait of Poly Styrene, the legendary frontwoman for the punk band X-Ray Spex. A punk maverick, she was the first woman of color in the UK to front a rock band, performing songs of rebellion to female identity, consumerism, and postmodernism. Though she drew a fervent fanbase in the UK and the US, rubbing elbows with The Sex Pistols and other punk icons, her career drew to an early close as a result of her increasingly intense struggles with mental illness.
Her daughter, co-director Celeste Bell, tells her mother's story with empathy, both idolizing Poly's trailblazing career and reckoning with how Poly's mental health battle affected her childhood. The film features Poly's personal diary entries, narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga and interviews with Kathleen Hanna, Thurston Moore, Vivienne Westwood, Neneh Cherry, and more.
The film was made with the support of Sky Arts, the BFI Doc Society Fund, Creative Scotland, and ScreenCraft; with additional creative and financial support from private financiers, EPs, and crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo and Patreon.
