Orlando

Sally Potter’s film breaks with convention, depicting four centuries from two genders’ perspectives. Tilda Swinton embodies the ultimate gender fluidity with exceptional acting: “It’s about inescapable, endless change, the only thing we can rely on”. This European co-production is also a magnificent ode to England and Virginia Woolf as well as providing intelligent commentary on typically British concerns such as class consciousness and repressed sexuality.

The androgenous history was brought to life by Dutch production designers Ben van Os and Jan Roelfs. Orlando’s impeccably designed vignettes are echoed in Wes Anderson’s filmed dioramas or in Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola. The brilliant original script is studied at film schools as an example of a radical, yet very successful adaptation of a classic.

Pre-film

Before Orlando, you will see the short French film La chenille de carotte (1911, 3’): a touching close-up of a carrot caterpillar that emerges as a swallowtail butterfly and has to get used to its transformation. Tilda Swinton hand-picked a short film, either from her rich oeuvre or from Eye’s collection, to precede all feature films.