‘Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche’ documentary screening at Nitehawk w/ filmmaker Q&A

Sean Furtado

Documentary Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche, about the X-Ray Spex singer who died in 2011, is being released in February on streaming and VOD, but folks in NYC can see it before that and on the big screen at Nitehawk Williamsburg on December 9 as part of their "Music Driven" series which is presented by BrooklynVegan. Following the film there will be a Q&A with filmmakers Celeste Bell and Paul Sng, with an afterparty in Nitehawk's Low Res bar following that. Tickets are on sale.

Here's the synopsis:

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 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 Poly Styrene’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.

I Am a Cliche also features interviews with Thurston Moore, Kathleen Hanna, Neneh Cherry, Vivienne Westwood, Youth, and more. You can watch the trailer below.