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Kokomo City

Directed by D. Smith2023USA73 mins

Both in its unabashed confessional interviews and its propulsive visual style, Kokomo City is an electric portrait of the inner lives of four Black trans sex workers in America. The central quartet — Liyah Mitchell, Dominque Silver, Koko Da Doll, and Daniella Carter — narrate their own specific journeys navigating Blackness, sexuality, and gender while charting their own path to achieving their dreams for the future. Told with a candid vulnerability, their stories deliver unpredictable bouts of humor and raw humanity, packing the film with mile-a-minute insights into their everyday lives and undidactic observations on contemporary social constraints.

Marking the directorial debut of two-time Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer D. Smith, this ferociously cinematic feature announces the arrival of a major new movie-making talent. Behind the camera, Smith is unfettered by stylistic clichés or reductive narratives and steadfast in her bold vision and visual flair. An Audience Award winner at both Sundance and Berlin, Kokomo City obliterates convention by matching the vitality of these women’s stories with its own unique artistic identity.

The screening of Kokomo City will be preceded by a live performance/reading from the novel Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by author James Hannaham and comedienne/actor Flame Monroe. Hannaham’s “dangerously hilarious” 2022 novel follows the titular character, a trans woman re-entering society after a 20-year stint in a men’s prison (LA Times). 

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Sponsor
Director
D. Smith
Year
2023
Country
USA
Running Time
73 mins
Language
English
Section
Documentary Features
Program Note Writer
Chris Feil
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