Orlando, My Political Biography

A person lying on top of a large rock or stone structure, which appears to be part of an outdoor sculpture. There is another sculpture of a seated figure with a flowing robe and what seems to be wings, possibly depicting an angel or mythical being. The sc

"Come, come! I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another."

Taking Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando: A Biography as its starting point, academic-virtuoso-turned-filmmaker Paul B. Preciado has fashioned the documentary, Orlando: My Political Biography, as a personal essay, historical analysis, and social manifesto.

For almost a century, Woolf’s eponymous hero/heroine has inspired readers for their gender fluidity across physical and spiritual metamorphoses over a 300-year lifetime. Preciado casts a diverse cross-section of more than twenty trans and non-binary individuals in the role of Orlando as they perform interpretations of scenes from the novel, weaving into Woolf’s narrative their own stories of identity and transition. Not content to simply update a seminal work, Preciado interrogates the relevance of Orlando in the continuing struggle against anti-trans ideologies and in the fight for global trans rights.

Orlando, My Political Biography screens as part of our "Doc Spots" series. Courtesy of Janus Films.