After her impressive directorial debut Test Pattern, which was nominated for both Gotham and Independent Spirit Awards, Shatara Michelle Ford returned to the festival circuit in 2024 with Dreams in Nightmares. Now finally picked up by Lunette Films for a release beginning in NYC on August 21 and LA on August 28, the new trailer has arrived for the drama.
Starring Denée Benton, Sasha Compère, Charlie Barnett, Mars Storm Rucker, Dezi Bing, and Jasmin Savoy Brown, here’s the brief synopsis: “A new take on the American road movie, Dreams in Nightmares follows a group of queer friends in their mid-30s navigating love, identity, and belonging.”
“I am a filmmaker because I love working in creative environments where collaboration with smart, intrepid and highly-skilled individuals is essential to every aspect of a given project,” Ford told Variety when Lunette acquired the film. “Especially at this extremely fraught time for our industry, I would expect nothing less from a distribution approach. It is rare these days for independent filmmakers to have this kind of a relationship with a distributor and I relish the fact that I get to do this with Malkah.”
Jourdain Searles said in her review, “Shatara Michelle Ford’s sophomore feature Dreams in Nightmares is a Black road trip film with a big heart, full of warmth, healing, and beauty. With their debut film Test Pattern, Ford announced themselves as an essential new voice in Black cinema, with a focus on the lives and struggles of Black women. Here, Ford tackles similar themes with a wider scope that includes Black femmes, queer love, and non-monogamous relationship structures. An even mix of comedy and drama, Dreams in Nightmares is a work that feels both casual and cathartic.”
See the trailer below.