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WINNER: WFF21 WORLD DOCUMENTARY AWARD
This is an incredibly personal tribute to the iconoclastic punk rock singer Poly Styrene, co-directed by her daughter. It uses archival footage, home movies, diary entries read by Ruth Negga, and interviews with contemporaries to paint a portrait of the sensitive woman herself, behind the image and the punk rock clichés.
Growing up in Brixton, London, of Afro-Somali descent, she dealt with racism and criticism from a young age. Adopting a punk rock persona and riding the wave to great popularity, she dealt with bouts of depression and bipolar disorder. After unprecedented success in gigs at CBGB nightclub in New York, she returned home depressed and demoralized by how commercial the whole punk movement had become. This forced her to leave her band, The X Ray Spex, at their peak, and her subsequent choices were not always to her own benefit.
These less than savoury details of Styrene’s life are dealt with straightforward and honestly, with nothing swept under the rug. What emerges is an intensely honest and personal portrait of a punk trailblazer who was years before her time and paved the way for the Afropunk and riot grrrl movements to come.
“****. (A) riveting and valuable documentary.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“In a genre often saturated with sugar-coated stories and selective memories, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché proves to be anything but.” Rachel Reeves, Consequence
Glasgow Film Festival
South by Southwest Film Festival
Austin, Texas
This is an incredibly personal tribute to the iconoclastic punk rock singer Poly Styrene, co-directed by her daughter. It uses archival footage, home movies, diary entries read by Ruth Negga, and interviews with contemporaries to paint a portrait of the sensitive woman herself, behind the image and the punk rock clichés.
Growing up in Brixton, London, of Afro-Somali descent, she dealt with racism and criticism from a young age. Adopting a punk rock persona and riding the wave to great popularity, she dealt with bouts of depression and bipolar disorder. After unprecedented success in gigs at CBGB nightclub in New York, she returned home depressed and demoralized by how commercial the whole punk movement had become. This forced her to leave her band, The X Ray Spex, at their peak, and her subsequent choices were not always to her own benefit.
These less than savoury details of Styrene’s life are dealt with straightforward and honestly, with nothing swept under the rug. What emerges is an intensely honest and personal portrait of a punk trailblazer who was years before her time and paved the way for the Afropunk and riot grrrl movements to come.
“****. (A) riveting and valuable documentary.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“In a genre often saturated with sugar-coated stories and selective memories, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché proves to be anything but.” Rachel Reeves, Consequence
Glasgow Film Festival
South by Southwest Film Festival
Austin, Texas
- Year2021
- Runtime96 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited Kingdom
- PremiereWhistler Premiere
- Ratinglanguage
- DirectorCeleste Bell, Paul Sng
- ScreenwriterZoë Howe
- ProducerRebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman, Daria Nitsche
- CastPoly Styrene
- CinematographerNick Ward
- Sound DesignRaoul Brand
1 film in package
This virtual screening is eligible for audience awards! Unlock it to cast your vote.
Protected ContentThis content can only be viewed in authorized regions: Canada.
WINNER: WFF21 WORLD DOCUMENTARY AWARD
This is an incredibly personal tribute to the iconoclastic punk rock singer Poly Styrene, co-directed by her daughter. It uses archival footage, home movies, diary entries read by Ruth Negga, and interviews with contemporaries to paint a portrait of the sensitive woman herself, behind the image and the punk rock clichés.
Growing up in Brixton, London, of Afro-Somali descent, she dealt with racism and criticism from a young age. Adopting a punk rock persona and riding the wave to great popularity, she dealt with bouts of depression and bipolar disorder. After unprecedented success in gigs at CBGB nightclub in New York, she returned home depressed and demoralized by how commercial the whole punk movement had become. This forced her to leave her band, The X Ray Spex, at their peak, and her subsequent choices were not always to her own benefit.
These less than savoury details of Styrene’s life are dealt with straightforward and honestly, with nothing swept under the rug. What emerges is an intensely honest and personal portrait of a punk trailblazer who was years before her time and paved the way for the Afropunk and riot grrrl movements to come.
“****. (A) riveting and valuable documentary.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“In a genre often saturated with sugar-coated stories and selective memories, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché proves to be anything but.” Rachel Reeves, Consequence
Glasgow Film Festival
South by Southwest Film Festival
Austin, Texas
This is an incredibly personal tribute to the iconoclastic punk rock singer Poly Styrene, co-directed by her daughter. It uses archival footage, home movies, diary entries read by Ruth Negga, and interviews with contemporaries to paint a portrait of the sensitive woman herself, behind the image and the punk rock clichés.
Growing up in Brixton, London, of Afro-Somali descent, she dealt with racism and criticism from a young age. Adopting a punk rock persona and riding the wave to great popularity, she dealt with bouts of depression and bipolar disorder. After unprecedented success in gigs at CBGB nightclub in New York, she returned home depressed and demoralized by how commercial the whole punk movement had become. This forced her to leave her band, The X Ray Spex, at their peak, and her subsequent choices were not always to her own benefit.
These less than savoury details of Styrene’s life are dealt with straightforward and honestly, with nothing swept under the rug. What emerges is an intensely honest and personal portrait of a punk trailblazer who was years before her time and paved the way for the Afropunk and riot grrrl movements to come.
“****. (A) riveting and valuable documentary.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“In a genre often saturated with sugar-coated stories and selective memories, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché proves to be anything but.” Rachel Reeves, Consequence
Glasgow Film Festival
South by Southwest Film Festival
Austin, Texas
- Year2021
- Runtime96 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited Kingdom
- PremiereWhistler Premiere
- Ratinglanguage
- DirectorCeleste Bell, Paul Sng
- ScreenwriterZoë Howe
- ProducerRebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman, Daria Nitsche
- CastPoly Styrene
- CinematographerNick Ward
- Sound DesignRaoul Brand
