POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHE! At Stray Cat Film Center(KC Premier!)

1662 Broadway Boulevard,Kansas City MO 64108

06 May, 2022

Description

The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey across the world to reconcile their fraught re 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. 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. Proof of vaccination or proof of negative test within the past 48 hours will be required to enter Stray Cat Film Center. Please contact us with any questions. Updated Mask Policy: To follow current CDC recommendations and comply with the current mask mandate in Kansas City Missouri, masks will be mandatory at Stray Cat Film Center. For the safety of other patrons and our volunteers, please keep your mask on unless you are actively eating or drinking. Thank you for complying, let us know if you have any questions. Stray Cat Film Center is an artist-run, non-profit micro-cinema. Organized by volunteer programmers, We screen everything from to documentaries to video art to cult films and is open to the entire range of moving image expressions – independent, activist, underground and bizarre. We are a space that supports all of KC’s cinematic communities and celebrates diversity of expression, fun & radical art.