Kokomo City Still
Kokomo City Still
Kokomo City
The Sundance-winning debut from two-time Grammy nominee D. Smith, KOKOMO CITY. A stylish and vital portrayal of four Black Transgender sex workers. In their own words.
KOKOMO CITY takes up a seemingly simple mantle — to present the stories of four Black transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia.
Shot in striking black and white, the boldness of the facts of these women's lives and the earthquaking frankness they share complicate this enterprise, colliding the everyday with cutting social commentary and the excavation of long-dormant truths.
Accessible for any audience, unfiltered, unabashed, and unapologetic, Smith and her subjects smash the trendy standard for authenticity, offering a refreshing rawness and vulnerability unconcerned with purity and politeness.
Director & Producer
D. Smith
Country
United States
Distributor
Dogwoof
Year
2023
Reclaim The Frame Event
Screenings
4 Aug 2023
Catch a screening at #ReclaimTheFrame partner cinemas from Friday 4 August:
KOKOMO CITY is available with Descriptive Subtitles (SDH) and Audio Description (AD).
Editorial
KOKOMO CITY: Interview with director D Smith
By The Reclaim The Frame Team
Sundance Film Festival hit KOKOMO CITY gives us unfiltered access to the insights of four Black trans women sex workers in Atlanta and New York City - Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver - each telling their own no-holds-barred stories. Drawing on her experience as a two-time Grammy Award-winning music producer, director D Smith, brings a kinetic energy to the storytelling that parallels the quick-fire vitality of her contributors.
We spoke with D Smith about how she set out to humanize the experience of transgender sex workers, about her distinctive creative approach as a first time filmmaker, and about the solidarity that the film aims to galvanise. Speaking with D Smith is our Impact Producer Toni Lee.