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Kokomo City Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute Kokomo City, 1.45am, Channel 4, Monday, September 30

This candid documentary, shot in stylish monochrome, sees Black transgender sex workers offer observations about their lives and their occupation as well as expounding more generally on society's stance towards them. While documentarian D Smith captures a lot of the risks these women face, she also takes a playful approach that allows their humour to shine out. A spiky, fun eye-opener that never feels formulaic. The sad postscript to the film is that one of its vibrant contributors Koko Da Doll was shot dead just months after the film's premiere. At the time, Smith said: “I want people to get any opportunity they can to see her in her truth" - now's your chance.

Aliens, 11pm, ITV4, Tuesday, October 1

Sequels that are as good as the original film are few and far between but James Cameron...

The Cinema Eye Honors announced the winners for its documentary films and series competition Friday in Manhattan, with “32 Sounds” taking the honor for outstanding nonfiction feature. Maite Alberdi won outstanding direction for “The Eternal Memory” together with Kaouther Ben Hania for “Four Daughters,” while “Paul T. Goldman” won outstanding nonfiction series.

See all the winners below:

—Outstanding Nonfiction Feature

32 Sounds

Directed by Sam Green

Produced by Josh Penn and Thomas O. Kriegsmann

—Outstanding Direction

Maite Alberdi

The Eternal Memory

Kaouther Ben Hania

Four Daughters

—Outstanding Editing

Michael Harte

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

—Outstanding Production

Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath, Derl McCrudden and Vasilisa Stepanenko

20 Days in Mariupol

—Outstanding Cinematography

Ants Tammik

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

—Outstanding Original Score

Jd Samson

32 Sounds

—Outstanding Sound Design

Mark Mangini

32 Sounds

—Outstanding Visual Design

Thomas Curtis and Sean Pierce

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project

—Outstanding Debut

Kokomo...

Clockwise from bottom left: Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures), Past Lives (A24), Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures), Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures), Barbie (Warner Bros.)Graphic: Karl Gustafson

Was 2023 the year that the movie theater finally made a comeback? Maybe, but it was definitely the year that brought film to the forefront of the cultural conversation again.

Exclusive: D. Smith’s breakout documentary Kokomo City, a top contender for Oscar recognition, will make its debut on Showtime and Paramount+ on February 2, Deadline can reveal.

The film, which has won awards around the world, will become available for streaming as part of the Paramount+ with Showtime plan first thing Friday, February 2, and will premiere on the Showtime linear platform that night at 9 p.m. Et/Pt. Magnolia Pictures released Kokomo City theatrically over the summer, beginning in New York and Los Angeles.

“In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver – who unapologetically break down the walls of their profession,” notes a release about the film. “Holding nothing back, the film vibrates with energy, sex, challenge and hard-earned wisdom.”

‘Kokomo City’ director D.

Kokomo City follows the lives of four black transgender women who work as sex workers. These women, Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver, frankly and vividly talk about their work, lives and passions. Director D. Smith, herself a transgender woman, became interested in the subject of sex work after she lost her job in the music industry after transitioning. She thought about doing sex work and that started her relationship with the four women. With a camera in tow she herself shot most of the footage, which startles with its clair-obscur black and white photography. Smith makes their lives look like something out of a Mark Romanek video or a Dave La Chapelle fashion shoot. If anything else, this is the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

As part of Indie Film Site Network (Ifsn), we’re thrilled to announce D. Smith’s vibrant directorial debut Kokomo City as the recipient of the 2023 Ifsn Advocate Award. The recipient of the award, established to highlight one indie film each year that illuminates a humanitarian or environmental issue with a singular artistic vision, is awarded one million (1M) media impressions across the Indie Film Site Network, which represents The Film Stage, Hammer to Nail, Ioncinema.com, RogerEbert.com, and Screen Anarchy. Letterboxd, the popular social network for cinephiles, is also contributing to the award.

Finalists for the 2023 Ifsn Advocate Award are Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s The Monk and the Gun, Asmae El Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies, and Luke Lorentzen’s A Still Small Voice, which will each be awarded 100K media impressions across Ifsn.

In the wildly...

Filmmaker D. Smith’s debut documentary “Kokomo City” presents a raw depiction of the lives of four Black trans women — Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver. Based in Atlanta and New York City, the women get real about sex work and confront the prejudices they experience, as well as the persistent threat of violence they face each day.

“Kokomo City” made a huge splash at Sundance, winning both the Next Audience and Innovator awards, landing Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad as executive producers and securing theatrical distribution from Magnolia Pictures. Following the big wins, the documentary continued along the festival circuit, screening for massive crowds at Berlin, SXSW and BFI’s London Lgbtqia+ film fest, among other international venues.

But, in April, on the eve of the “Kokomo City’s” debut as a marquee selection at the Atlanta Film Festival, the unthinkable happened: Koko Da Doll,...

One of the smaller subsets of a subset of society: sex workers who are black trans women with dicks and the men who love them. This documentary is a raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves. The penultimate of the street hos, these women on camera are elegant and eloquent. Able to have made small nests that seem safe, though life for such beings is always precarious, these women are further marginalized by the wives of the men who frequent their beds. Rightfully proud of their achievements, having made a decent life from less than nothing and while still remaining underground, these women express themselves as queens of their domains which elevates us as we witness their beauty. Daniella Carter, D. Smith, Dominique Silver, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell This is a beautiful documentary about life as very, very few of us will ever know or could ever imagine. When it showed at the Berlinale after its premiere at Sundance, it won the Panorama Audience Award. The director D. Smith, trans herself, makes her debut with this film but is a veteran of the music industry and a Grammy-nominated producer, singer, and songwriter. As Sundance says: “Smith brings her sonic skills into stunning harmony with a visual style whose grit and brassiness match the energy and spirit she elicits from her participants. Unfiltered, unabashed, and unapologetic, Smith and her subjects offer a refreshing rawness and vulnerability unconcerned with purity and politeness.” Morning routines and conversations in bed, gossip and real talk. In encounters and interviews, D. Smith portrays four Black trans sex workers in New York and Georgia. The protagonists discuss their lives with relish and without any sugar-coating. The conversations that emerge are deep and passionate reflections on socio-political and social realities as well as perceptive analyses of belonging and identity within the Black community and beyond. The protagonists also tell us about their lovers, friends and families, and how these relationships are marked by taboos and fetishisation, and also by their own desires. This vibrant portrait gives them space for their uninhibited and defiant narratives. Interestingly, as each reaches a level of self-sustenance and comfort, they reflect and begin to imagine their next level of development which will take them beyond earning their livings so precariously as sex workers in a very dangerous milieu. These are the lucky ones, chosen, no doubt by D. Smith because they had reached levels of success and even love, something so many of us miss. International sales agent and U.S. distributor: Magnolia Films. Israel: New Cinema. Spain: Filmin. Scandinavia: NonStop. U.K.: Dogwoof...

Bam!

Kokomo City grabs viewers from the first frame as Liyah, a Black trans woman, recounts meeting with a man at her home who was going to pay her for sex. Things were proceeding as expected until Liyah discovered a gun on the man’s person and concluded she faced an imminent threat. A fracas erupted as the pair fought for the gun, tumbling down a flight of stairs.

Filmmaker D. Smith, in her directorial debut, recreates that moment in a rock ‘em sock ‘em scene as wild and visceral as anything you’ll see in a Hollywood film.

“There were no rules,” Smith tells Deadline about her approach to that sequence and the entire documentary. “That was just for me to really do everything that I always wanted to do [as a filmmaker].”

‘Kokomo City’ director D. Smith (L) and protagonist Daniella Carter appear at Outfest in Los Angeles.

Smith’s fresh...

A4’s supernatural horror Talk To Me opens the debut film by Australian brothers and popular YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou on 2,300 screens. Strong reviews (see Deadline’s here), A24 large built-in fan base and its elevated horror cred saw a Thursday gross of $1.25 million, looking to top a $4-5M weekend.

The Sundance-premiering pic follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand and become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Michael Philippou gleefully freaked out a Comic-Con event last week with a stunt that saw him possessed by an embalmed hand before meeting what appeared to be a bloody end. Stars Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji and Joe Bird. Written by Bill Hinzman and Danny Philippou.

Limited openings: Music Box Pictures presents The Unknown Country by Morissa Maltz...

Utah-based Angel Studios has Hollywood scratching its head with its crowdfunding ticket model for “Sound of Freedom”: Its Pay It Forward program allows audiences to purchase tickets for others who don’t have the mean to buy one themselves.

Now, D. Smith’s Sundance-winning documentary “Kokomo City” is adopting a similar strategy. And while this is a very different kind of film than “Sound of Freedom,” the ticket-buying option is clearly inspiring similarly innovative models. “Kokomo City” distributor Magnolia Pictures has set up a website encouraging viewers to “Support the Girls,” meaning for the next two weeks you can contribute a ticket for someone else to see the moving and hilarious documentary about Black trans sex workers at IFC Center in New York City.

The film will head nationwide in a wider release beginning August 4 — dates and locations are here — but for now, IFC Center in New York is the documentary’s exclusive home.

D. Smith has a full career of entertainment experiences, primarily as a successful music producer for artists ranging from Lil Wayne to Katy Perry. But when it came to creating her scrappy first feature, Kokomo City, she pulled a lot from a surprisingly early career gig: singing in the New York City subways. “People don’t understand there’s a science to being a subway singer,” she tells me before detailing her specific strategies to break through the noise to reach an audience. “The point is: you gotta sell it and gotta go.”

Smith’s willingness to hustle in order to connect through art shines through in Kokomo City, a documentary that originated solely from her own initiative. She earns her stripes a multihyphenate, serving not only as the film’s director but also its producer, cinematographer, editor, and casting director. Her lively black-and-white portrait of four Black trans women...

A series of portraits of Black trans sex workers and the men who lust after them, D. Smith’s Kokomo City plays as a hyper-stylized companion to Zackary Drucker and Kristen Lovell’s recent The Stroll. But where The Stroll elaborates on the relationship between New York City, particularly the Meatpacking District, and trans women’s hustle using rather formulaic storytelling, Kokomo City’s look at trans sex work in Atlanta is more original.

The film’s most significant accomplishment is the mood it crafts with its cool black-and-white images, fast-paced editing, unorthodox camera angles, handheld camera, and overall jazzy atmosphere. But Smith’s investment on surfaces can only sustain the documentary for so long, as the discourse level of its interviewed subjects—a mix of trans sex workers and, to a lesser extent, trans-attracted men—never quite catches up to the euphoria of the visuals.

Kokomo City begins as...

While July is a bit of a lighter month for worthwhile cinematic offerings, it’s only because a trio of blockbuster hopefuls, while anticipated, are taking up so much oxygen. Thankfully, there’s still room for my favorite film of the year, a few worthwhile directorial debuts, and more. Check out my picks to see below and catch up with the best films from the first half of the year.

9. Talk to Me (Danny and Michael Philippou; July 28)

A horror hit at Sundance that was quickly snatched up by A24. John Fink said in his review, “Featuring a great premise from which to build a franchise, YouTube creators Danny and Michael Philippou’s directorial debut Talk To Me is a refreshing retread, imagining tantalizing “micro-possessions” that get stronger the more you use them. The premise is simple enough: a possessed hand that seems to have been passed down for generations...

A pair of essential documentaries from Sundance Film Festival this year examined the lives of trans sex workers through their own perspectives, and now both will be arriving this summer. Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker’s The Stroll, coming to HBO and Max next week, explores 1990s sex work in NYC’s now-gentrified Meatpacking District, while D. Smith’s Kokomo City, opening in theaters later next month, gives the spotlight to four trans sex workers from Atlanta and NYC. Ahead of both releases, the first trailers have now arrived.

John Fink said in his review of The Stroll, “A frank celebration of a pre-Giuliani New York, Kristen Lovell and Zachary Drucker’s The Stroll explores a unique period from the inside. Lovell––an actress, activist, and the producer of the seminal trans film The Garden Left Behind––knows the streets well, and after being the subject of a 2007 documentary about...

With disgusting and harmful laws being passed across various states in the U.S., the lives of trans folks are being put in danger daily. So, it’s wonderful to see trans people gain the spotlight in art such as the new acclaimed documentary, “Kokomo City.”

Read More: ‘Kokomo City’ Review: These Beautiful Ladies Have A Lot To Say [Sundance]

As seen in the trailer for “Kokomo City,” the film follows the lives of four trans sex workers, Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, as they go through their lives in Atlanta.

Continue reading ‘Kokomo City’ Trailer: D. Smith’s Acclaimed Doc About Trans Sex Workers Arrives In July at The Playlist.

Winner of the Next Innovator Award and Next Audience Award out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival and the Audience Award in the Berlinale’s Panorama Documentary section, a new trailer for Kokomo City arrives ahead of its theatrical release later this summer. Directed by D. Smith, Kokomo City is her debut feature. The doc centers on four Black trans sex workers living in New York City and Atlanta—Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver—who detail the nature of their livelihood with humor and honesty. Tragically, […]

The post Trailer Watch: D. Smith’s Kokomo City first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Winner of the Next Innovator Award and Next Audience Award out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival and the Audience Award in the Berlinale’s Panorama Documentary section, a new trailer for Kokomo City arrives ahead of its theatrical release later this summer. Directed by D. Smith, Kokomo City is her debut feature. The doc centers on four Black trans sex workers living in New York City and Atlanta—Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver—who detail the nature of their livelihood with humor and honesty. Tragically, […]

The post Trailer Watch: D. Smith’s Kokomo City first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When critics write about authentic storytelling, they are talking about films like “Kokomo City.” Shot, edited, produced, and directed by visionary new voice D. Smith, this artful and spirited documentary is a rare unvarnished portrait of four lively and charming Black trans women. Shot in black and white from a friendly and intimate perspective, the women candidly share their musings on sex work, community, and dating as a trans woman.

The refreshing film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it nabbed a few awards and rave reviews — including an IndieWire Critics’ Pick. Magnolia Pictures will release the film in select theaters on July 28, where it’s sure to surprise and delight audiences thirsty for original material. IndieWire is proud to debut the trailer exclusively.

Per distributor Magnolia, “Kokomo City” is the feature directorial debut of two-time Grammy-nominated producer, singer and songwriter D. Smith. Smith also filmed...

Frameline has announced the full program for the 47th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline47). Running June 14 through 24, with a streaming encore to follow from June 24 through July 2, Frameline47 returns with nearly 90 film screenings, including 12 world, 16 North American, and 9 U.S. premieres.

Frameline will host 47 screenings at the historic Castro Theatre and other venues throughout the Bay Area. This announcement comes on the heels of Frameline’s recent unveiling of three marquee presentations: the Opening Night film, Andrew Durham’s Sundance favorite “Fairyland,” which will feature an in-person appearance from producer Sofia Coppola; the Oakland Centerpiece, Hannah Pearl Utt’s “Cora Bora,” featuring “Hacks” scene-stealer Megan Stalter; and the Pride Kickoff film, Jordan Danger’s “God Save the Queens,” featuring RuPaul drag icon Alaska, who will perform during the afterparty at Oasis.

This year’s iteration is set to be Northern California’s largest film festival in 2023, according to Frameline.

The Ira Sachs film Passages is set to open the Inside Out 2Slgbtq+ Film Festival after screening at Sundance.

The French romantic drama, which stars Ben Whishaw, Franz Rogowski and Adèle Exarchopoulos, will receive a gala treatment in Toronto. And the 33rd edition of Inside Out will close with Tom Gustafson’s Glitter & Doom, a musical love story based on the song lyrics by the Indigo Girls and featuring Alex Diaz, Missy Pyle and Tig Notario.

The festival’s lineup, unveiled Friday, also includes screenings for Supporting Our Selves, a documentary about AIDs activists by Lulu Wei that will receive a world premiere, and director Ally Pankiw’s I Used to be Funny, a dramedy about a stand-up comedian struggling with Ptsd who consider joining the search for a missing teenage girl she used to nanny.

There’s also a gala screening for D. Smith’s Kokomo City after it played at Sundance and Berlin.

Mammoth Lakes Film Festival has announced the lineup of its ninth installment, held in-person from May 24-28 at venues throughout the California mountain town. Notably, the opening and closing films will feature stories from transgender individuals around the world.

“Two of the most compelling documentaries we came across this year happened to be transgender stories, highlighting characters living in circumstances that threaten their survival, and we are so thrilled to showcase ‘Queendom’ and ‘Kokomo City’ as our opening and closing spotlight films,” said Paul Sbrizzi, director of festival programming.

Opening film “Queendom,” by Agniia Galdanova, is a window into the life of Gena, a transgender Russian performance artist, and the radical acts that put her life in danger. The closing film “Kokomo City” by D. Smith explores the lives of four Black transgender sex workers as they consider what their existence means within the Black community. Koko Da Doll, who...

An arrest has been made in connection to the fatal shooting of Koko Da Doll, star of the hit Sundance documentary Kokomo City.

Atlanta police announced Thursday that a 17-year-old was taken into custody on April 26 and is being held at Fulton County Jail. The teen apparently turned himself in after “Atlanta police homicide detectives were able to establish probable cause and secure arrest warrants for murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement on Thursday.

The arrest and charges now facing the 17-year-old teen follow an investigation after Atlanta police officers on April 18 responded to reports of a late night shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and found a woman who had been shot and pronounced deceased at the crime scene.

Police did not identify the victim by name, but Kokomo City director D. Smith...

A 17-year-old has been arrested in connection to the killing of Koko Da Doll (also known as Rasheeda Williams), a trans woman who was the subject of the hit Sundance documentary Kokomo City.

According to a statement from the Atlanta Police Department, the suspect turned himself in at a precinct on Wednesday, April 26, identifying himself as the person of interest in the case. He is facing charges of murder and aggravated assault. After turning himself in, the suspect was “transported to the Fulton County jail and taken into custody without incident.

The director of Kokomo City has paid tribute to Rasheeda Williams Aka Koko Da Doll, who has been killed in Atlanta. She was 35.

Williams was one of the trans women to appear in the forthcoming documentary, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.

The documentary features four Black trans sex workers living in Atlanta and New York City, and shows the persistent threat of violence they face each day.

Atlanta police are currently investigating the killing, which took place on Tuesday (18 April) and said in a statement: “Upon arrival, officers located a female victim with an apparent gunshot wound. She was not alert, conscious or breathing and pronounced deceased on scene by Afr [Atlanta Fire Rescue Department].

“Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. The investigation continues.”

While police are yet to identify the victim by name, Kokomo City director D Smith told Deadline...

Koko Da Doll, the star of the Sundance hit documentary Kokomo City, was found murdered in Atlanta on Tuesday. She was 35.

According to the Atlanta Police Department, on Tuesday at 10:42 pm, officers responded to reports of a woman shot in the Westhaven neighborhood of Atlanta and found the victim was not “alert, conscious or breathing.”

“Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the statement, which did not explicitly name Koko, read.

D. Smith, the director of Kokomo City, confirmed Koko...

Scarlett Johansson and Gwyneth Paltrow have set the record straight on past rumours that they clashed on the set of Iron Man 2.

Over a decade ago, Johannson made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Black Widow in the 2010 superhero sequel, alongside Paltrow who reprised herrole as Tony Stark’s assistant, Pepper Potts.

At the time, rumours swirled that the two did not get along on set. And while they have previously denied them, people still seem stuck on the notion that there was tension.

“People ask me, ‘Is it true that you and Scarlett Johansson didn’t get along on Iron Man?’” Paltrow told Johansson on the latest episode of her self-hosted podcast, The Goop Podcast.

“Is that a rumour?” Johansson asked. “You were so nice to me on that movie. I was so petrified. You were so nice to me! You could’ve been awful. I was so...

Melanie Lynskey compared losing touch with Kate Winslet to a breakup in a recent podcast appearance.

The two actors – now 45 and 47, respectively – co-starred in Peter Jackson’s psychological thriller Heavenly Creatures in 1994 when they were teenagers.

It was both of their feature film debuts and they played two friends whose relationship culminates in the murder of one of their mothers.

Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Thursday (20 April), Lynskey said: “When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had.”

The Yellowjackets star continued: “It was so painful and it wasn’t like anything happened, it’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star and she didn’t have a lot of time and then, suddenly, she’d be in Los Angeles and not have time.”

Winslet went on to star in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility in 1995 before...

Melanie Lynskey compared losing touch with Kate Winslet to a breakup in a recent podcast appearance.

The two actors – now 45 and 47, respectively – co-starred in Peter Jackson’s psychological thriller Heavenly Creatures in 1994 when they were teenagers.

It was both of their feature film debuts and they played two friends whose relationship culminates in the murder of one of their mothers.

Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Thursday (20 April), Lynskey said: “When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had.”

The Yellowjackets star continued: “It was so painful and it wasn’t like anything happened, it’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star and she didn’t have a lot of time and then, suddenly, she’d be in Los Angeles and not have time.”

Winslet went on to star in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility in 1995 before...

Koko Da Doll, one of the trans women featured in the hit Sundance documentary Kokomo City, was found dead in Atlanta Tuesday night.

On Thursday, Kokomo City director D. Smith in an Instagram post said the shooting and death of Koko Da Doll, whose given name is Rasheeda Williams, “was the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women.”

“I created Kokomo City because I wanted to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women. 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. It’s extremely difficult to process Koko’s passing, but as a team we are more encouraged now than ever to inspire the world with her story. To show how beautiful and full of life she was.

“Kokomo City” star Koko Da Doll, age 35, has been shot and killed.

Koko, also known as Rasheeda Williams, was a Black trans sex worker whose story was captured in the 2023 Sundance documentary, helmed by Grammy-nominated D. Smith. She was found with a gunshot wound in southwest Atlanta April 18 and pronounced dead at the scene.

“On Tuesday night, Rasheeda Williams was shot and killed in Atlanta. Rasheeda, aka Koko Da Doll, was the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women,” Smith said in a statement (via Variety). “I created ‘Kokomo City’ because I wanted to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women. 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.”

Smith continued, “It’s extremely difficult to process Koko’s passing,...

Rasheeda Williams, a Black trans woman better known as “Koko Da Doll” who was a major part of the hit documentary “Kokomo City,” was shot and killed in Atlanta on Tuesday night. She was 35 years old.

Her death was confirmed by friends as well as the Sundance Film Festival’s Twitter page. TheWrap further confirmed with the Atlanta Police Department that contrary to previous reports, the shooting happened Tuesday night, not Wednesday. This post has been updated to reflect that correction.

An Apd spokesperson confirmed early Friday that on Tuesday around 10:42 p.m. local, officers responded to 2457 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in reference to a person shot.

“Upon arrival, officers located a female victim with an apparent gunshot wound,” the spokesperson said. “She was not alert, conscious or breathing and pronounced deceased on scene by Afr. Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“Kokomo City” star Koko Da Doll was found fatally shot on Tuesday in Atlanta. She was 35 years old.

The Atlanta Police Department reported that Koko was found with a gunshot wound in Southwest Atlanta shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Koko, whose given name is Rasheeda Williams, was a prominent transgender woman featured in the award-winning documentary “Kokomo City,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The film, which marks the feature directorial debut of Grammy-nominated producer, singer and songwriter D. Smith, presents a raw depiction of the lives of four Black trans sex workers living in Atlanta and New York City — Koko, Daniella Carter, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver — as they confront the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves, as well as the persistent threat of violence they face each day.

Following the film’s Sundance premiere, Koko — who...

Updated with more reaction from Kokomo City cast and producers from original 8:12 p.m. story: The director and subjects of Kokomo City are expressing shock over the death of Rasheeda Williams, one of the trans women featured in the award-winning documentary, who reportedly was shot to death in Atlanta Tuesday night.

Atlanta police say they are investigating the killing after being called to the scene of the shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Sw. “Upon arrival, officers located a female victim with an apparent gunshot wound. She was not alert, conscious or breathing and pronounced deceased on scene by Afr [Atlanta Fire Rescue Department],” police said in a statement. “Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. The investigation continues.”

Atlanta police have released no further information. They did not identify the victim by name, but Kokomo City director D. Smith and another woman...

Kokomo City director D. Smith has been on a roll the likes of which few filmmakers ever experience. On Saturday her documentary – an uncensored look inside the lives of four Black trans women in New York and the Atlanta area – won the Audience Award in the Panorama Documentary section at the Berlin Film Festival. A month earlier at Sundance, Kokomo City captured the Audience Award in the festival’s Next section, as well as Adobe’s Innovator Prize.

A day before the Sundance world premiere, CAA signed Smith for representation, and a day after the premiere Magnolia Pictures acquired Kokomo City for worldwide distribution. For any filmmaker, especially one making her directorial debut, that’s a lot to process.

Director D. Smith attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival premiere of ‘Kokomo City’ January 21, 2023 in Park City, Utah.

“To be very candid, I’ve not had a moment to do that,” Smith...

Punchy delivery styles, shimmering personalities and kaleidoscopic perspectives make up the soul of D. Smith’s gutsy documentary Kokomo City, which chronicles the experiences of four Black trans women sex workers living in New York and Atlanta. The principal participants — Daniella Carter, Dominique Silver, Koko Da Doll and Liyah Mitchell — are an electric bunch, and the diversity of their testimonies propels this worthwhile project into refreshing, uninhibited territory.

From its opening moments, Kokomo City distinguishes itself from other documentaries — including its antecedent and most obvious point of comparison, Paris Is Burning. Instead of an expository voiceover or an establishing montage, we get Mitchell — sitting in her bedroom, hair wrapped in a silk scarf — telling us about a near-fatal encounter with a client. The story begins on a sober note and gains more levity as Mitchell burrows into the details of each scene: the client walking into her apartment, her split-second decision to steal his gun,...

At its best, Sundance is really about Cinderella stories — the starving artists who come to Utah hoping to captivate audiences comprised of the industry and the public, effectively crashing the gates of Hollywood.

The most compelling pair of glass slippers at the festival this year belonged to D. Smith, whose directorial debut “Kokomo City” claimed two big awards in the Next section: the coveted audience award and Adobe’s Innovator prize. The film follows four Black trans sex workers in America and is unflinching in its depiction of sex, identity politics and (gasp) levity.

“Kokomo City” is a rare entry in the queer nonfiction genre, in that it does not focus solely on the trauma of marginalized people. The film is so dynamic that the lone juror handing out awards in the Next section, Madeleine Olnek, called it “the funniest movie that has ever played Sundance.”

Following her big win,...

Kokomo City is not a real place. It’s more like a state of mind, invented by director D. Smith, who is Black and trans, to describe the space that her sisters occupy in the world. Theirs is an identity that is barely understood by the public and frequently misrepresented by the media, but is here defined by a handful of tell-it-like-it-is trans sex workers who offer snappy, whip-smart insights into their lives, dreams and the down-low dudes who adore them. In Smith’s short, salty micro-budget doc, the t-girls spill the tea, totally reframing the conversation.

A singer-songwriter who produced for the likes of Lil Wayne and Katy Perry, only to see her livelihood dry up when she transitioned, Smith still thinks in terms of music. During the course of shooting this film, the self-taught director stumbled across a nearly 90-year-old recording called “Sissy Man Blues” from all-but-forgotten Black crooner Kokomo Arnold.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to “Kokomo City,” the feature directorial debut of Grammy-nominated producer, singer and songwriter D. Smith. The pact comes after the film’s world premiere in Sundance’s Next section. It marks Magnolia’s second acquisition at the festival, following its pickup of “Little Richard: I Am Everything.”

Smith filmed and edited the look at four transgender Black sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver. “Kokomo City” was executive produced by Lena Waithe. It will next screen at Berlin Panorama. Magnolia will release the film theatrically this year.

“’Kokomo City’ is a miraculous cinematic debut by D. Smith,” said Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures. “Hilarious, revelatory and wildly entertaining, and with a soundtrack for the ages, the film demolishes preconceived notions and announces a major multi-talent to the film world. We can’t...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights at the Sundance Film Festival to Kokomo City, the feature directorial debut of two-time Grammy-nominated producer-singer-songwriter D. Smith, who made history as the first trans woman cast on a primetime unscripted TV show. Smith also filmed and edited this wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary that passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver – as they hold nothing back while breaking down the walls of their profession.

The film, executive produced by Lena Waithe, played in Sundance’s Next section and will next screen at Berlin Panorama. Magnolia will release the film theatrically this year. They burned the midnight oil on this one, with negotiations lasting till the wee hours.

“Kokomo City is a miraculous cinematic debut by D. Smith,” said Magnolia Pictures president Eamonn Bowles. “Hilarious,...

Sepideh Farsi’s “La Sirène” (“The Siren”) is opening the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand.

The program, which comprises 35 films from 30 countries, including 28 world premieres and 11 debuts, includes new films by Patric Chiha, İlker Çatak, Frauke Finsterwalder, Maite Alberdi, Milad Alami and Apolline Traoré. They feature a galaxy of well-known protagonists and actors such as Joan Baez, Jafar Panahi, Payman Maadi, George MacKay, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Fan Bingbing, Sandra Hüller and Susanne Wolff.

Panorama Selections

“After”

by Anthony Lapia | with Louise Chevillotte, Majd Mastoura, Natalia Wiszniewska

France

World premiere | Debut film

“All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White”

by Babatunde Apalowo | with Tope Tedela, Riyo David, Martha Ehinome Orhiere, Uchechika Elumelu, Floyd Anekwe

Nigeria

World premiere | Debut film

“And, Towards Happy Alleys”

by Sreemoyee Singh | with Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Soutodeh, Jinous Nazokkar, Farhad Kheradmand, Aida Mohammadkhani

India

World premiere | Debut film | Documentary

“La Bête dans la...