Community Cinema: Poly Styrene, I Am A Cliché

About Community Cinema: Poly Styrene, I Am A Cliché

Location: Duncan Place Community Hub 
4 Duncan Place, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 8HW

Community Cinema Screening + Post-Film Talk
This film screening is for ages 16+

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.

Poly was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell. Celeste 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.

Along the way, we hear from those who knew Poly or were inspired by her including…
Thurston Moore - Sonic Youth
Kathleen Hanna - Bikini Kill/Le Tigre
Vivienne Westwood - Fashion designer
Neneh Cherry - Singer/songwriter
Don Letts - Friend and DJ/filmmaker
Bruno Wizard - Friend and musician
Youth - Friend and musician/producer
and more…

Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche (2021)
BBFC rating: 12 (although this screening is strictly for ages 16+)
Running time: 89 mins.
Directed by: Celeste Bell and Paul Sng.
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Subtitles: SDH English subtitles.
View the trailer for Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche on IMDB here. 

Post-Film Talk
After the film you’re invited to stay with us for a post-film talk by Jade Stein, Communications and Engagement Manager from Engender, Scotland’s feminist policy and advocacy organisation. Jade will highlight the work that Engender do in the fight to make women’s inequality visible and in persuading those with power to make positive changes to services, policy, regulation, practices, and laws that negatively affect women.

About Engender
Engender work to dismantle structural sexism to increase women’s social, political, and economic equality, and enable women's rights. They believe in intersectional, inclusive feminism, and work at Scottish, UK, and international level to produce research, analysis, and recommendations for intersectional feminist legislation and programmes. More information on the Engender website here.

Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche BBFC Content Advice
Language
There is infrequent strong language ('f**k'), including written uses of the term, as well as milder bad language such as 'whore', 'bloody', 'bollocks', 'arse', 'hell' and 'God'. There is use of the outdated term 'half-caste, and text in a book contains a disguised use of the term 'n****rs'.

Sex
Archive footage features New York street scenes which include shots of billboards outside sex cinemas displaying the suggestive titles of films and images of women with hands covering breasts. In an archive interview, Poly Styrene talks about the song 'Oh Bondage Up Yours!' and says it refers to emotional and social bondage, as well as "sexual bondage".

Drugs
There are images of joints being prepared and smoked, as well as verbal references to drug misuse, which the work as a whole does not endorse.

Additional issues
There are accounts of Poly Styrene's history of mental health problems, the mis-diagnosis of her condition and the medication programme she was under. Her neglect of her young daughter, including an instance of physical abuse, is attributed to her mental health issues. There are references to historical racial discrimination, including the difficulties faced by mixed race children. There are also verbal references to terminal cancer, death and bereavement.

More information on BBFC content advice for Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche here.

Refreshments
We will provide hot drinks, squash, and pop corn.
Small cash donations towards these are welcome but not required.
You are also welcome to bring your own refreshments, however no alcohol is permitted. Please also refrain from bringing any hot or strong smelling food items. Thank you.

Film Selection and Support
We'd like to say a huge thank you to the Local Cinema Project for supporting our community cinema events, and also to the community members in our film programming group who have helped to select the films we'll be showing. 

Duncan Place Access Information

• SDH English subtitles will be onscreen during the film. 
• There is ramped access into the building. The event will be held on the ground floor of Duncan Place Community Hub and is wheelchair accessible.
• There are two individual toilets on the ground floor with one being wheelchair accessible.
• We have a mix of padded seats and hard plastic seats. Seats with arm rests are also available if needed. We have a limited supply of chair cushions available on request.
• There is foyer space and outdoor space for those that might need to break away to a quieter area during the film.

If there is anything we can do to help you attend, please get in touch by emailing events@duncanplace.org or phoning 0131 364 4350.

Getting Here

We can be found on Google Maps here > https://goo.gl/maps/qNZeEKWL1uhdQRBd7

Duncan Place is a few minutes’ walk from Leith Walk, Duke Street, Great Junction Street and Easter Road. This area is very well served with buses, including 1, 7, 14, 16, 21, 25, 34, 35 & 49.

www.lothianbuses.com has a journey planner.

The closest tram stop is Foot Of The Walk.

Bike racks are available in our outdoor space. Please bring a secure lock. We do not have any to loan out & bikes and scooters are not allowed in the building. Bikes and scooters are left at your own risk and Duncan Place will not accept any responsibility for any damage or theft. CCTV does cover the bike racks.

Duncan Place has 1 disabled parking space and 1 further space alongside the exterior fencing, both available on a first come basis.

Parking bays have been painted on the road outside the building and on-street (card only) pay and display meters have been installed by City of Edinburgh Council, at a rate of £3.80 per hour, Monday to Friday 8:30am until 5:30pm.

There are also yellow zig zags on the street. Again, please check signage but at the time of writing it is free to park on the zigs zags after 4pm Mon to Fri and all day on the weekends.

There is free parking at the nearby Tesco. At the time of writing parking is available for up to 3 hours.