Poly Styrene
To coincide with the 40th anniversary of the seminal X-Ray Spex album Germfree Adolescents, a new film titled ‘Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché’ is in the works. Fund-raising begun recently via Indiegogo, with a cinema release date set for November 2018. Watch the funding trailer for it below.
Bi-racial, female, working class and possessing one of the most satirical perspectives in punk, X-Ray Spex founder Poly Styrene was, as Billboard proclaimed, “one of the least conventional front-persons in rock history“. Poly was responsible for some of the most original, intelligent and exciting music of the punk era and beyond, but away from the songs, the look and that warrior-cry voice, her fascinating and sometimes frightening story, incorporating struggles with misogyny, racism and mental health issues, has remained largely untold. Until now.
In this feature-length documentary, the jigsaw pieces of Poly’s life will be brought together for the first time. Original interviews, new research and previously unseen archive material are combined to present a thrilling, poetic and at times impressionistic portrait of a singer, seeker and mother. Underscored with Poly’s music from throughout her career, ‘Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché’ celebrates one of punk’s most uncompromising icons.
Co-written and narrated by Poly’s daughter Celeste Bell, the film will examine the past through the lens of the present, by revisiting pivotal moments and significant spaces in Poly’s history, while at the same time raising awareness of the issues she struggled with – and rose above – throughout her life.
Celeste Bell, Narrator, Co-Writer, and daughter of Poly Styrene said: “This film will be a celebration of the life and work of my mother, an artist who deserves to be recognised as one of the greatest front women of all time; a little girl with a big voice whose words are more relevant than ever.”
Help crowdfund here – get some perks while you’re at it such as, lunch with the team behind it, and even your name in the film’s ending credits – then watch this space.
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