Poly Styrene, the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band, introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion.
Poly Styrene used her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain. 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 diary entries, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand the icon and mother.
2021 UK Dir Paul Sng and Celeste Bell 89 min
Captions are available for this film for audiences who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
Photo by Falcon Stuart
Barbican Cinema has been supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England which is administered by the BFI, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund supporting arts and cultural organisations in England affected by the impact of Covid-19. #HereForCulture.
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