Orlando

A century after the publication of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A biography, Paul B. Preciado, a philosopher and trans activist, wrote to tell her that her character had come true: the world was becoming Orlando-esque. Preciado gathers the cast around this question: “Who are the contemporary Orlandos?” twenty-five different people, all trans and non-binary, aged 8 to 70. Each embodies the fictional character at the center of the British writer’s novel, while recounting their own lives; as well as a series of archival images from the 20th century that evoke the Orlandos of the past in their quest for recognition and visibility. The viewer gradually discovers Orlando’s orientation, while the portrait of a collective being with multiple faces, voices and bodies takes shape. The film follows the same structure as Virginia Woolf’s novel: a journey through history, both intimate and political. “I first read Virginia Woolf’s book when I was a teenager in Spain, long before I knew that gender transition was possible. Woolf’s fictional character enabled me to imagine my own life, to desire and embody change. Over the years, I’ve also become an Orlando. My biography is the collective story of thousands of invisible Orlandos. It’s the story of a struggle within an oppressive regime of binaries, gender and sex. To be trans is not only to move from femininity to masculinity (or vice versa), it is also to engage in a process of “orlandization”: a poetic journey in which we find a new language to name ourselves and the world. Gender transition is a transformative journey, a movement of disidentification, a practice of freedom rather than a simple reproduction of identity. The film thus paints a portrait of a world in mutation, and of the “gender and non-binary revolution” underway.”

Practical information

Italian premiere of “Orlando”, Paul B. Preciado

Friday, March 29
Salle cinéma Michel Piccoli
6:00 pm (running time: 98min)
FR VOST IT
Free In partnership with : FANDANGO