German director and screenwriter Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” has received the Ethical Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Established in 2023 with the support of Sumitomo Corporation, the award recognizes films that address issues including discrimination, poverty and the environment. The winner is selected by a jury from three nominees in the festival lineup.

This year’s jury was led by actor Isomura Hayato, a two-time Japan Academy Film Prize winner who also runs the Shizuoka Film Festival. Three members of the festival’s student public-relations team also served on the panel. The other nominated films 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.

A Germany-Ukraine co-production, Stever’s film is set in Kyiv at the end of 2021, shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Oleh, a trans man, attempts to leave Ukraine as war approaches but is prevented from doing so because of the gender recorded on his official documents. He remains in the country with his partner, Olya, as the couple tries to preserve their relationship and their identities while the bombing draws closer.

Isomura said the jury particularly valued the film’s exploration of gender within the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine. He described it as a story about a couple whose identity, purpose and values are challenged by the conflict, and said the jury hoped the award would encourage more people to watch the film and reflect on its themes.

Unable to travel to Tokyo, Stever accepted the honor in a recorded video message made during a break from teaching at a film school. She said the term “queer” can also refer to what is not normalized, connecting the idea to societies where people are expected to follow fixed standards. She also linked it to Ukrainians fighting so that people can continue to live freely in their country.

The festival will later send Stever a certificate and a cash prize of JPY 200,000, listed as $1,270.

Sources: Variety.