KOKOMO

Kokomo City

Directed by D. Smith
U.S / 2023 / Documentary
73 minutes

A raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers in New York and Georgia as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves. 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 every day with cutting social commentary, and the excavation of long-dormant truths. Sharing reflections on knotty desire, far-reaching taboo, identification in labor, and gender’s many meanings, these women offer an unapologetic and cutting analysis of Black culture and society at large from a vantage point that is vibrating with energy, sex, challenge, and hard-earned wisdom. This film is the directorial debut of D. Smith, who is a two-time Grammy-nominated songwriter-producer and fierce trans woman.