Orlando, My Political Biography

Hailed as ’the first trans masterpiece’ by the legendary queer scholar B. Ruby Rich, the debut feature by theorist, writer and curator Paul B. Preciado is a singular and joyous exploration of trans identity, past and present. Drawing on Virginia Woolf’s classic 1928 novel Orlando, Preciado uses the text as a lens through which to explore his own biography, as well as the collective trans experience. In a series of playfully staged vignettes, a cast of 26 Orlandos, played by trans and non-binary performers, recite passages from the novel interwoven with their own personal stories. The result is an exuberant, erudite and uncategorisable gem of a film.