Dreams in Nightmares (2026)
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford Run Time: 128 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2026
Starring: Charlie Barnett, Denée Benton, Dezi Bing, Mars Storm Rucker, Sasha Compère
Country: United States, United Kingdom, Taiwan
Language: English
About the film:
After an abrupt layoff, Z embarks on a trip across the Midwestern United States in search of a friend who has seemingly disappeared off the grid. Traveling with her two closest friends, these three queer black femmes find their priorities tested as shapeshifting threats in each city expose (inter)personal and ideological fractures.
“a vibrant reinvention of the American road movie”
—David Canfield for Hollywood Reporter
About the filmmaker:
Shatara Michelle Ford is an American filmmaker whose work explores class, power, womanhood, identity, memory, perception and race. Intellectually propelled by the LA Rebellion film movement and stylistically influenced by Neoclassical directors, their films feature marginalized characters with rich internal lives that defy dominant stereotypes. In 2010, they received an MFA in Screenwriting from Royal Holloway, University of London. Their script, “Queen Elizabeth” was featured on the 2017 Black List.
Their award-winning debut feature Test Pattern (2021) landed on over a dozen Best of 2021 lists, including IndieWire’s 10 Best First Feature Films of 2021. Additionally, Ford was awarded the prestigious New Generation prize by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and is a 2021 Pew Fellow. Their second feature film Dreams in Nightmares (2026) had its world premiere at the BlackStar Film Festival in 2024 and screened at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in 2025.
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