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Writer and LGBT+ activist Paul B. Preciado is frequently asked why he doesn’t write his autobiography. “Because f***ing Virginia Woolf wrote it in 1928” is the answer Preciado gives at the beginning of Orlando, My Political Biography, his film debut. And then he adds, “and I say f***ing in a tender and full-of-admiration way.”
Orlando, My Political Biography is listed in the Berlin catalog as a documentary. Right there is where the disruptive agenda of the film begins. We see 24 persons, trans or non-binary, introduce themselves with their real names and add, “I am representing Virginia Woolf’s Orlando”, then they read from the novel. The Orlandos present themselves as if in a scripted fiction film. Each one tells his, her or their story, like in a classic talking-heads documentary. The director is using all the tools in his cinematographic toolbox to tell his story. We could paraphrase Virginia Woolf: “The documentary – for there is no doubt of its genre – though the film conventions of the time did something to disguise it.”
Even if the film is a great addition to the incipient trans cinema canon, the director´s biography – the classic one – deserves a separate film. He is a writer and philosopher well known among scholars long before he began to inject himself with testosterone. This time in his life is recounted in his book Testo-Yonqui. He was not thinking of going through sex reassignment; he just wanted to experiment with the effects of the hormone, without considering its secondary effects. The book was received with outrage by the medical community, who feared many people might follow his example, with potentially fatal effects. The book served as a sounding board for trans activists, who demanded better medical care and hormone therapies respecting the patients’ wishes.
Being a scholar has served Paul B. Preciado well in writing the script. He did his research and read Orlando in the original manuscript. It looks as if he really intended to dive into the text, in the equivalent of a Strasberg method for scriptwriters. Preciado’s cast memorized fragments of the novel and then added – or rather embroidered – their own experiences into these fragments. The method works because the whole cast is articulate yet natural, even emotional, in their presentations.
The art direction is eclectic. Some spaces like doctors’ offices are typical; sometimes the characters drape themselves, cat-like, over statues. There are theatrical backdrops with a visible structure, like the snowed landscapes for the Great Frost scene. Then there is a musical number, written by the director, that resembles an Almodovar production on steroids.
At moments the film feels like propaganda, but at other moments it’s a musical. Preciado finds a way to deliver his message while entertaining his audience. All the characters and even a dog wear an Elizabethan neckpiece while keeping their everyday clothes or fur. Maybe the neckpiece is a way to put on the character, or to remind the audience they are watching a play.
Trans and non-binary philosophy is at the film’s core, and it’s clearly explained. The director’s voice-off, as well as the voices of the “Orlandos” speaking in their own words, talk about the absurdity of gender definitions. How some people wish strongly to belong to a sex, but others simply want the ambiguity. All of them are demanding respect for what should be a personal choice, not a decision for others to make. As one character explains, we are not talking here about wearing pants or a skirt, but whether to have a feminine penis or a masculine vagina. A bit strong for a general audiences, perhaps, but considering the number of hate crimes against trans community, a necessity.
Director, screenplay: Paul B. Preciado
Cast: Oscar-Roza Miller, Janis Sahraoui, Liz Christin, Elios Levy, Victor Marzouk
Producers: Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez Coproduced, Annie Ohayon-Dekel, Farid Rezkallah
Cinematography: Victor Zebo
Editor: Yotam Ben David
Sound: Arno Ledoux
Music: Clara Deshayes
Production companies: Les films du poisson in coproduction with 24images, ARTE France
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Encounters)
In French
98 minutes
