Using https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/models/querysets/#regex for…

Using https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/models/querysets/#regex for search filter by starting field with '$'

rest_framework/filters.py

@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ class SearchFilter(BaseFilterBackend):
             return "%s__iexact" % field_name[1:]
         elif field_name.startswith('@'):
             return "%s__search" % field_name[1:]
+        if field_name.startswith('$'):
+            return "%s__iregex" % field_name[1:]
         else:
             return "%s__icontains" % field_name