Shatara Michelle Ford and Dylan Meyer Remake Genre Cinema with Queer and Female-Centric Road Movies
This summer, American independent cinema is being transformed by two innovative films. Shatara Michelle Ford’s Dreams in Nightmares is set to premiere in New York on August 21, telling the story of three queer friends—Z (Denée Benton), Tasha (Sasha Compère), and Lauren (Dezi Bing)—as they journey from Los Angeles to Oaxaca in search of their missing friend, Kel (Mars Storm Rucker). Ford draws inspiration from Wim Wenders’s Paris, Texas. Meanwhile, Dylan Meyer’s The Wrong Girls, currently in theaters, is a stoner comedy featuring friends Frankie (Kristen Stewart) and Molly (Alia Shawkat) who engage in stealing experimental drugs. Both films convey political messages: Ford examines friendship, while Meyer highlights a community of cannabis-loving women.
Key facts
- Dreams in Nightmares is Shatara Michelle Ford's sophomore feature, described as a revisionist road movie.
- The film follows three queer friends traveling from Los Angeles to New York, Pittsburgh, Iowa City, and Kansas City, and Oaxaca to find a missing friend.
- Cast includes Denée Benton, Sasha Compère, Dezi Bing, and Mars Storm Rucker.
- Dylan Meyer's directorial debut The Wrong Girls is a stoner comedy starring Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat.
- The Wrong Girls features talking cats, Dutch criminals, and telepathy, and is based partly on Meyer's friendship with producer Maggie McLean.
- Costume designer Heidi Bivens created the characters' looks with thrifted pieces and LA ephemera.
- Ford opens Dreams in Nightmares with archival footage of the Great Migration and insists the missing trans character Kel is not dead.
- The Wrong Girls is now in theaters; Dreams in Nightmares opens in New York on August 21.
Entities
Artists
- Shatara Michelle Ford
- Dylan Meyer
- Denée Benton
- Sasha Compère
- Dezi Bing
- Mars Storm Rucker
- Kristen Stewart
- Alia Shawkat
- Maggie McLean
- Heidi Bivens
- Britney Spears
- Jim Jarmusch
- Wim Wenders
- Bill Murray
Locations
- Los Angeles (United States)
- New York (United States)
- Pittsburgh (United States)
- Iowa City (United States)
- Kansas City (United States)
- Oaxaca (Mexico)
- St. Louis (United States)
- Midwest (United States)