D. Smith is no stranger to success. Before her breakout documentary Kokomo City started making waves in 2023, the two-time Grammy-nominated producer worked with top-tier artists from Lil Wayne to Monica to Andre 3000.
But with Kokomo City, she had something she needed to say to the industry that turned its back on her, and to the world.
Smith’s film follows four Atlanta-based trans women—Daniela Carter, Koko Da Doll, Dominque Silver, and Liyah Mitchell—who do sex work. They also live their lives, have fun, and joke around. The women are allowed, on camera, to be exactly who they are.
Too often, the media’s relationship to Black transness can feel predatory. We repeat wrong statistics, report on the deaths of white cis women and trans women with greater care, and do nothing to actually protect the most vulnerable part of the American population at this moment.
Smith’s film was a long time coming. Before becoming a filmmaker, she had a successful career as a music producer. And then, she came out.
Smith describes being blackballed from the music industry after working as a successful producer for years. When she came out as trans, suddenly the opportunities dried up. “I went broke,” she says. She ended up sleeping on floors and trying to figure out her next steps. It wasn’t easy. “I was inspired by trans women, because I’ve always been pretty independent financially. But when you’re broke, and you’re hungry, and you’re desperate, sex work comes across your mind.”
That’s the position plenty of trans women find themselves in after being shut out from other industries by transphobia, low pay, and an intolerant society that keeps setting up barriers to their success. “I thought damn,” Smith said, “I really see why these girls have to do that.”
Smith wanted to make a documentary about trans women for years. “I wanted to shine a light on how these women…were telling the stories of their experiences, about their opportunities in the workplace and the lack of [opportunities.]”
She kept it lo-fi when making the documentary. She knew that gaining the trust of the community was the most important thing. The result is an intimate, funny, thoughtful look into their world.
After flooring audiences at Sundance and other festivals, Kokomo City was quickly snapped up by Magnolia Pictures, and is set for wide release later this year.
But in the midst of enjoying her success, Smith had to deal with an incredible loss of one of the film’s stars.
On April 18th of this year, Koko Da Doll was shot and killed in Atlanta, another victim of transmisogynistic violence against Black trans women.
“I created Kokomo City because I wanted to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women,” Smith wrote in an Instagram post after her friend’s murder. “I wanted to create images that didn’t show the trauma or the statistics of murder of Transgender lives. I wanted to create something fresh and inspiring. I did that. We did that! But here we are again.”
The world isn’t changing fast enough for women like Koko Da Doll. But with Kokomo City, her story is being told so that others can keep fighting for the dignity, success, and happiness these women deserve.
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