Orlando, My Political Biography review – inventive spin on Virginia Woolf’s novel

Trans film-maker Paul B Preciado uses Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando as a touchstone in this inventive and intellectually agile film. Casting a group of trans and gender nonconforming individuals as both Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and, simultaneously, as themselves, Preciado explores the experience of transition, the literary significance of the 1928 book and the evolution of selfdom. It’s a unique picture that, while it can feel a little artificial in the performance segments, is profoundly affecting when it allows the participants to explore their own stories, to be heard and to be celebrated for who they are. Weighty themes are handled with a refreshing lightness of touch.

• In UK and Irish cinemas