David Farnor | On 06, Mar 2021

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche is available through Sky TV until 5th April 2021.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche is playing on Sky Arts this weekend, following its premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival.

The documentary sees Celeste Bell embark on a journey across three continents to explore the legacy of her mother – X-Ray Spex founder Poly Styrene. The late punk maverick was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock bank, introducing 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.

Her daughter, Celeste, became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and demons. This documentary follows her as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive, understanding Poly as both icon and mother.

Directed by Paul Sng, the lyrical and intimate portrait had its world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, playing online from Saturday 27th February to Tuesday 2nd March. On Friday, it went on to be released online on BFI Player and Curzon Home Cinema. Now, it’s available for free to UK audiences, screening on Sky Arts at 9pm on Saturday 6th March.

Sky Arts is available on Freeview and Freesat on channel numbers 11 and 147. While the Sky Arts linear channel is now free for everyone, however, catching up on-demand after broadcast will require either a Sky TV account or NOW subscription.

 

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche is available on Sky Arts. Don’t have Sky? You can also stream it on NOW, for £9.99 a month with no contract. For the latest Sky TV packages and prices, click the button below.

 

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