Written by Charlotte Beck. Photo courtesy of SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
“Kokomo City,” screened on Oct. 26 at the Trustees Theater, is an odyssey. With nothing but a camera and a light, filmmaker D. Smith documents the raw truth of the lives of four Black transgender sex workers.
Smith began her career as a music producer, working with artists from Katy Perry to Lil Wayne. However, when she transitioned publicly in 2014, the industry blacklisted her, despite her having won a Grammy in 2009. This did not thwart her creativity — in fact, it did the opposite. While couch surfing in New York City with no secure housing and little knowledge of film, Smith began production of “Kokomo City.”
The documentary is a compilation of intimate grayscale interviews. When initially pitching her film to the cast, Smith made it clear that there would be no glam and no high production. Instead, the women speak from their living rooms or bedrooms in beautiful lounge sets. “I wanted them to feel comfortable,” Smith said in a Q&A after the screening.
Smith straddles casual confidence and humor while illustrating the danger and traumas of these women’s lives, from homelessness to violence from their clients. The women examine the juxtaposition of themselves and the Black community while reminding the audience that no family, no lover and no social acceptance is worth denying your truth.
After filming in Florida, Georgia and New York, Smith edited the film herself in iMovie. She also scored the film by writing her own pieces or searching for the perfect needle drop. While sourcing copyright-free music for the film, she landed on the 1935 track “Sissy Man Blues.” The raspy vocalist Kokomo Arnold, who ended up becoming the namesake of the film, sings with his tinny guitar, “Lord, if you can’t send me no woman, please send me some sissy man.” These 90-year-old lyrics dismiss the homophobic and transphobic rhetoric of today that being trans is “new” or “unnatural.” “Sissy Man Blues” and “Kokomo City” state the truth: trans people have thrived, do thrive and will continue to thrive.
Charlotte Beck is a junior graphic design major and the creative director at District. She leads the design of District’s publication Square 95, as well as SCAD’s Port City Review. Charlotte is also a lover of all things music and poetry.
