EIFF: Orlando, My Political Biography
Paul B. Preciado creates an electrifying work of fiction/non-fiction, a polyphonic retelling of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.
Paul B. Preciado / France / 2023 / French with English subtitles
Winner of the Teddy Queer Film Award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Orlando, My Political Biography is the beautiful debut feature film from Paul B. Preciado, author of Testo Junkie. Taking as its starting point Virginia Woolf’s Orlando as a portrayal of trans identity, the film sizzles with a wildly imaginative mix of wit, art and politics. Preciado blends irreverent vignettes and earnest depositions, enlisting a broad array of trans performers to take on the lead role, their eyes turning to the camera to tell stories of pleasure, resilience and survival. A searing work of activism, the film is also a radical, enlightening, and roaringly entertaining ode to queer joy.
Kate Taylor, Programme Director
This expansive film unfolds the complexity and diversity of trans experiences without ever universalizing—and while having fun.
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Still from Orlando, My Political Biography
© 2023 Credit : Les Films du Poisson
Still from Orlando, My Political Biography
© 2023 Credit : Les Films du PoissonYou may also like...
Writer-director: Paul B. Preciado
The writer, philosopher and curator was born in Spain and lives in Paris. Considered one of the leading figures in the study of gender and body politics, his work includes the role of curator at documenta 14 and at the Taiwanese Pavilion of the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. His books – which include 'Countersexual Manifesto' and 'Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs, and Biopolitics in the Pharmacopornographic Era' – are key reference works in queer, trans and non-binary contemporary art and activism.
Producers: Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez, Annie Ohayon-Dekel, Farid Rezkhallah
Sales Agent: The Party Film Sales
Distributor: Picturehouse Entertainment
Read More
An Apartment on Uranus, by Paul B. Preciado // The Paris Review
Berlinale 2023: Minor Choruses, Major Films by Erika Balsom // Film Comment
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Photo: Still from Orlando, My Political Biography
© 2023 Les Films du Poisson