How a first-time filmmaker turned a Virginia Woolf novel into a 'survival' strategy
For Spanish-born philosopher turned director Paul B. Preciado, poetry is about "the freedom of transforming language," he says during a recent video call. His debut film, "Orlando, My Political Biography," out now in theaters, is also a kind of poetry. Utilizing an army of trans and nonbinary performers whom he describes as "gender poets," Preciado celebrates the fluidity of gender itself, wresting it away from a mainstream framework. (Already, "Orlando" is being hailed by critics and festival audiences as a trans landmark.)
Preciado's journey to making "Orlando" began when a French-German production company approached him about making a film around his life and work. (The popular scholar and author,
