Ukraine-Set Drama About a Trans Man Barred From Fleeing War, ‘I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming,’ Wins Tokyo’s Ethical Film Award

German director and screenwriter Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” has won the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Ethical Film Award. The award, set up in 2023 with sponsor Sumitomo Corporation, highlights films that shed light on issues such as the environment, poverty and discrimination. A jury picks the winner from three nominees drawn from […] Isabelle Stever’s ‘I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming,’ about a trans man barred from leaving Ukraine as war looms, wins Tokyo’s Ethical Film Award. German director and screenwriter Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” has won the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Ethical Film Award. The award, set up in 2023 with sponsor Sumitomo Corporation, highlights films that shed light on issues such as the environment, poverty and discrimination.

A jury picks the winner from three nominees drawn from the festival lineup. Actor Isomura Hayato, a two-time Japan Academy Film Prize winner who runs the Shizuoka Film Festival in his hometown, headed this year’s jury. He was joined by three members of the festival’s student PR team. The other nominees were Brazil’s “Amadeo and the Hypothetical New World,” directed by Brenda Lígia and Edu Felistoque, and Australia’s “Time and Tide,” directed by Vee Shi. Stever’s film, a Germany-Ukraine co-production,