Orlando: A Journey through Gender (360G-Wellcome-204066_Z_16_Z)

The BFI and Cinelive’s proposal seeks to build on a successful model of immersive film and science events to create a lasting impact on the arts, science and education sectors. Primarily we propose to develop a series of film and theatre-based biomedical science public engagement events exploring Sally Potter’s film adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (in the 25th anniversary of the film’s release). This project will launch at BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival in March 2017 with a screening and panel discussion from key project collaborators. This will be followed by six events, 4 for schools and 2 for the general public, where participants will engage in an immersive performance inspired by the film, workshops delivered by endocrine researchers exploring the role hormones play in our conceptualisation of sex and gender, and a screening of Orlando. The project will culminate with Immersed in Science, a workshop examining immersive science and arts education hosted by BFI Southbank. The proposed project is book-ended by two events designed to build public conversation around the project, biomedical science, gender and education while increasing capacity in the arts, science, and education sectors to engage the public with their work in meaningful ways.