In 1928, Virginia Woolf wrote Orlando, the first novel in which the main character changes sex in the middle of the story. A century later, trans writer, philosopher and activist Paul B. Preciado decides to send a film letter to Virginia Woolf: her Orlando has come out of her fiction and is living a life she could have never imagined…

With a cast made up entirely of 26 contemporary trans and non-binary people from ages 8 to 70, all of whom embody Woolf’s Orlando, Orlando, My Political Biography is a confident and shamelessly clever blast of fresh air in contemporary queer cinema and a gamechanger in trans representation on screen.

Winner of the prestigious Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the 2023 Berlinale, it’s simultaneously punk and profound, poetic and hilarious, recognising the complexities of identity and the joys of seeing oneself, as well as reflecting, with beautiful utopian vision and hope, on the challenges we have to overcome to build a better world for Orlandos everywhere.

With thanks to Picturehouse.

Shared in-the-dark pleasures, Outburst brings you the very best in new queer cinema from around the world in partnership with QFT. Visit outburstarts.com for full details of the festival programme, taking place 9 - 18 November.