Kokomo City

Kokomo City (2023)

Their bodies. Their business.

Four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City break down the walls of their profession.

Date of release
2023-07-28
TMDB
6.7 / 10 (26)
Runtime
1h 13m
Genres
Documentary
Director
D. Smith

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 2 · Nominations: 0. Including: Sundance Audience Award Best of NEXT; Sundance NEXT Innovator Prize

Kokomo City is a 2023 American documentary film, directed, produced, and edited by D. Smith. It explores the lives of four Black trans women and their experiences as sex workers in New York and Georgia. Lena Waithe serves as an executive producer.

Production

D. Smith had a successful career in the music industry, producing songs for Lil Wayne, Ciara, Keri Hilson, Billy Porter and André 3000. However, when she began to transition, she was essentially forced out of the industry, and ended up broke and homeless. Smith had the idea for a documentary film revolving around sex work, after wondering what would happen if she had to turn to it to sustain herself, and those who had no other options.

To find subjects for the film, Smith turned to Instagram and YouTube. Smith wanted her subjects to feel comfortable, telling them to talk as if they were talking to her and shooting at lower angles to make it look as if they were at a sleepover. Lena Waithe and her producing partner, Rishi Rajani boarded the film as executive producers after having been blown away after viewing the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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