“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard…”

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. Featuring commentary from Thurston Moore, Kathleen Hanna, Neneh Cherry, Viviene Westwood.

"More than a journeyman rockumentary, “Poly Styrene” is a thoughtfully finessed filial reckoning: a daughter’s journey toward understanding her mother as a young artist and as a young woman of color." (New York Times)

"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." (RogerEbert.com)

"The best footage is of the performer up on stage at some grotty club, wailing into a microphone with her band thrashing behind her, and her fans flailing in front. She looks the way punk rockers are never supposed to look. She looks happy." (National Post)

"A riveting and valuable documentary..." (The Guardian)

#MusicMonday, February 21
Doors 6:00 pm | Movie 6:30 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Advance tickets $13 | $13 at the door

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHE (Celeste Bell, Paul Sng / 2021 / 89 mins / 14A) The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey across the world and through her mother’s archives to reconcile their fraught relationship in this new documentary feature, featuring Oscar nominee Ruth Negga as the voice of Poly Styrene.