D. Smith was homeless when she started shooting this documentary about the sex industry, and we can sense the fury and rawness of the conditions under which this film was made. Art can sometimes be a savior.
But not for everybody. Koko, one of the main subjects of this movie was murdered soon after filming - the victim of a hate crime. The film is dedicated to her.
This is Rasheeda Williams (aka Koko Da Doll). She was one of the women to appear in the Sundance Film Documentry, Kokomo City, about the lives and work of Black trans sex workers in Atlanta.
youtube
Last Tuesday, she was found murdered and her family is currently holding a fundraiser on gofundme to help support her home going arrangements. Please donate if you can!
had the opportunity and privilege to watch kokomo city yesterday, a documentary about black trans sex workers in America, directed by d. smith, who was working with some of the biggest names in the music industry, before (surprise surprise) losing employment and housing following her transition
if there's any chance to watch it, I really do recommend. there's so much love in the imagery and it's so vibrant, you can tell she's got a music background in the way the image beats move electrically with the soundtrack, and it adds to the ability to tell nuanced stories and let the women (and cis men who speak about their attractions to trans women) actually be funny/smart/sad/complicated
can read more about it here
I hope this spells a shift in her opportunities and in the platforming of this sort of work and documentation
"Once a Grammy-nominated producer, D Smith was shunned by the music business when she came out as trans. A disastrous stint on reality TV followed – and now she has reinvented herself as a film-maker"