The director and the subject of Kokomo One of the trans women featured in the acclaimed documentary, Rashida Williams, was apparently shot and killed in Atlanta on Tuesday night. Many are shocked by her passing.
Upon their arrival at the site of a shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW, Atlanta police said they are looking into a homicide. Officers discovered a female victim with what appeared to be a gunshot wound when they arrived. She was cognizant, alert, or not breathing, and the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department declared her dead at the scene, according to authorities. “Homicide detectives responded to the scene and are investigating the incident’s circumstances. The inquiry is ongoing.
The Doll in “Kokomo City,” Coco
Further information has not been provided by Atlanta police. He did not give the victim’s identity, but the director of the city of Kokomo, D. Smith, and another lady who is shown in the film claim that it was Williams, a performer known by the stage name Coco Da Doll. town of Kokomo demonstrates Coco’s and other Black trans women’s struggles to leave their lives of sex work, which they are frequently obliged to do as their only source of support in a culture that favours traditional employment. This battle is seen in Atlanta and New York. Hardly no opportunities exist. Females favour him.
“Rashida Williams was shot and died in Atlanta on Tuesday night. Rashida, a.k.a. Coco Da Doll, was the most recent victim of violence against Black transgender women, according to a statement made exclusively for Deadline by the director of the city of Kokomo. “I built the city of Kokomo.” I did this because I wanted to illustrate how Black trans women can be fun, personable, and natural. I wanted to produce pictures without depicting the anguish of transsexual life or dead people. I wanted to produce something innovative and motivational. So I did. We did it! Yet here we are once more. Whilst processing Coco’s passing has been tremendously painful, as a team we are more motivated than ever to keep sharing her inspirational tale with the world. to display how stunning and vibrant she was. Future generations will be inspired by her, and she will never be forgotten.
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival is attended by Dominique Silver, Coco da Doll, Stacy Barthe, Dee Smith, Lena Waithe, Leah Mitchell, and Daniella Carter (LR).
City of Kokomo’s Coco and other transgender actors attended the Sundance Film Festival in January. The international premiere of it was planned. The movie that Lena Waithe, Stacy Barthe, William Melillo, and Rishi Rajani executive produced took home two prizes at Sundance: the Adobe Next Innovator Award and the Audience Award in the festival’s Next category.
Daniella Carter, a fellow cast member of City of Kokomo, posted on Instagram, “Last night my castmate was murdered. I’m genuinely at a loss for words and in a lot of agony. If you have any recommendations, do get in touch with ATL PD. Please let anyone you know at ATL know about this.
Lea Michele and Dominique Silver are featured in the movie in addition to Coco Da Dolla and Daniella Carter. The ladies in the movie discuss the threat of violence posed by sex acts in “City of Kokomo.” Michelle begins by recounting a time when she saw a customer carrying a gun. Although they argued over it at the time, Michelle later found out that the man had no intention of hurting her. After learning that Silver was transgender, a client became outraged and assaulted her, according to Silver.
Three out of four transgender sex workers have faced sexual abuse or intimate relationship violence at some point in their lives, according to the Transgender Law Center. “Many trans women of colour who have been killed were either sex workers or had previously engaged in sex work.” [Atlanta police have not yet indicated whether Williams’ death was related to sex work],
Magnolia Pictures purchased the D. Smith, Harris Doran, and Bill Butler-produced film city of kokomo at Sundance. A US theatrical release is scheduled for later this year. On August 4, Dogwoof will release the movie in theatres in the UK and Ireland.
The movie has received appreciation for its unflinching and honest depiction of reality for the trans women who appear in it. Smith, who made his transition public in 2016, claims he worked alone on the movie to avoid having anyone dictate the content.
At the Berlin Film Festival, Smith told Deadline, “These women had wonderful lives, beautiful tales, and great souls, and it was absolutely unretouched and in a real raw form, even at the conclusion of the ‘edit. city of Kokomo Displayed in the Panorama section. Hence, there was nobody to stop the process.
Carter discussed the new professional options that the movie has provided for her in Berlin. She made it plain, however, that trans women, who continue to perform sex labour, are not forgotten.
Many of my sisters have resorted to use dubious means to pay their expenses, according to Carter. ” I mean, it actually existed before the opportunity presented itself. And so we survived.