November 14: ‘Orlando, My Political Biography’ Premieres At Melbourne Queer Film Festival
Image: Orlando, My Political Biography
by Stephen A Russell
Revered modernist author and queer hero Virginia Woolf exhilarated the literary world with her mesmerising tale of Orlando, a page boy in Elizabeth I’s court who falls into a deep sleep one day and wakes up as a woman who lives for three centuries.
Penned as a tribute to Woolf’s poet lover Vita Sackville-West, the novel was adapted for the big screen by Sally Potter in 1992 with Tilda Swinton in the lead role.
Filmmaker, academic and proud trans man, Paul B Preciado transforms the story once more with this magical, Berlinale Teddy Award-winning docu-essay in which many trans people from a wide variety of backgrounds and sexual identities – including Preciado – step into Orlando’s stylish shoes to tell their own story of affirming gender identity with pride.
As enlightening as it is empowering, it has a puckish charm that will have Melbourne Queer Film Festival patrons feeling the love with its much-needed pushback against transphobia.
Orlando, My Political Biography screens at Melbourne Queer Film Festival on Tuesday 14 November
