I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming review: Trans war drama captivates African diaspora 2026

Background: War narratives on screen

Since Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the global film market has been flooded with documentaries, news specials and short‑form reportage that aim to capture the immediacy of the conflict. Directors such as Sergei Loznitsa and Laura Poitras have turned cameras toward bombed‑out neighborhoods and refugee corridors, delivering stark, journalistic accounts that dominate festival line‑ups. Yet, the fictional space—where imagination can fill the gaps left by reportage—has remained comparatively quiet, leaving a narrative vacuum for stories that explore the interior lives of those living under siege.

Enter the German‑Ukrainian co‑production *I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming*, a feature that deliberately sidesteps the typical battlefield montage in favor of an intimate, trans‑focused love story set against the war’s backdrop. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year and quickly attracted attention for its bold formal choices, such as non‑linear editing and a sound design that blends artillery rumble with whispered dialogues. Its emergence signals a shift toward dramatized storytelling that treats the war not merely as a political event but as a lived, personal crucible.

The film’s daring approach

Director Kateryna Shchur, who grew up in Kyiv before relocating to Berlin, structures the narrative around two protagonists: a Ukrainian trans woman named Maya and a German aid worker named Lukas. Their relationship unfolds in a series of fragmented vignettes that mirror the disorientation of daily life in a city under bombardment. Critics have praised the film’s willingness to let the romance breathe amid the chaos, arguing that the emotional stakes become more palpable when the external threat is constantly present, not just a plot device.

The visual style also departs from conventional war cinema. Rather than relying on sweeping aerial shots of destruction, the camera lingers on everyday objects—a cracked kitchen tile, a handwritten note tucked into a coat pocket—creating a tactile sense of loss and resilience. According to a review in *Variety*, the film’s “formal imagination” serves as a conduit for audiences to experience the war’s psychological toll without resorting to graphic violence. This restraint has opened a conversation about how filmmakers can honor trauma while still offering a space for hope.

Why trans representation matters in a war story

Trans narratives have historically been relegated to niche festivals or marginalized within mainstream cinema, especially in stories that intersect with geopolitical conflict. By centering Maya’s journey—a trans woman navigating identity, safety, and love in a war‑torn city—the film challenges a double erasure: the invisibility of trans lives in Eastern European media and the tendency to portray war victims as monolithic civilians. As LGBTQ+ activist Olena Koval noted in an interview with *The Guardian*, “Maya’s story reminds us that gender diversity exists everywhere, even in places where we assume homogeneity.”

The film’s inclusion of trans experiences also resonates with broader global movements for queer visibility in conflict zones. In recent years, NGOs have documented the heightened risks faced by trans people during displacement, from discrimination in shelters to targeted violence. By foregrounding these issues within a high‑profile artistic work, *I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming* amplifies a conversation that has largely been confined to activist circles, potentially influencing policy discussions on protection for LGBTQ+ refugees.

African diaspora and global reception

While the story unfolds in Kyiv, its impact ripples across continents, particularly among African diaspora communities in Europe and North America who have long grappled with their own experiences of displacement and identity negotiation. Nigerian‑born filmmaker Chika Unigwe, speaking at a post‑screening panel in Lagos, highlighted how the film’s themes of belonging and survival echo the narratives of many African migrants who find themselves caught between cultural expectations and hostile environments. She argued that the film offers a “mirror for the diaspora to see their own fragmented identities reflected in a different geopolitical context.”

The film’s distribution strategy reflects this cross‑continental interest. After its Berlin run, the rights were acquired by the African streaming platform Showmax for a limited release in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, marking one of the few European war dramas to secure a direct African digital launch. Early viewership data, shared by Showmax’s head of content, suggests that the film has sparked online discussions on social media platforms like Twitter Africa, where users are drawing parallels between Ukraine’s invasion and ongoing conflicts in the Sahel, emphasizing a shared sense of vulnerability.

What’s next for the film and similar projects

The buzz surrounding *I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming* is already influencing funding bodies and festival programmers. The African Film Development Fund announced a new grant line later this year specifically for “intersectional narratives that blend conflict, gender and diaspora,” citing the film as a benchmark for how such stories can achieve both artistic merit and commercial viability. Moreover, the film’s success may encourage other European studios to co‑produce with Ukrainian talent, ensuring authentic voices remain at the forefront of future war‑related projects.

For audiences, the film offers a template for how cinema can move beyond headline‑driven coverage of wars and instead explore the nuanced human tapestries that persist amid destruction. As scholars of film studies argue, the real power of dramatization lies in its ability to “humanize statistics,” turning abstract casualty numbers into lived experiences. If *I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming* continues to resonate—particularly within African diaspora circles—it could pave the way for a wave of stories that marry geopolitical urgency with personal truth, reshaping how the world watches and understands conflict.

Quick Answers

What is the main plot of *I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming*?
The film follows Maya, a Ukrainian trans woman, and Lukas, a German aid worker, as they navigate love and survival during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Why is the film significant for the African diaspora?
It resonates with African diaspora audiences by reflecting themes of displacement and identity, and it will be streamed on Showmax in several African countries.

How does the movie differ from typical war documentaries?
Instead of focusing on battlefield footage, it uses intimate, character‑driven storytelling and a non‑linear style to explore personal trauma and trans representation.

Source: variety.com