D. Smith never set out to be a filmmaker. For years, the Florida native enjoyed major success in the music business as a producer and songwriter , collaborating on projects with Lil Wayne, Katy Perry and other artists.

All of that changed, however, when Smith came out as a transgender woman in 2014. Suddenly, she says, her opportunities in the recording studio ground to a halt, and she lost her home and her car as a result.

Amidst that professional upheaval, however, Smith bought a camera and quietly began making plans for her latest project. Her new documentary, Kokomo City , offers a thoughtful and startlingly intimate look at the lives of four Black transgender sex workers Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver in New York and Georgia. The film, shot in stylish black-and-white, opened in theaters Friday after premiering at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in January.

I had no intentions on being the director of this film, but it worked out that way, Smith told HuffPost in an interview. I asked maybe five or six directors to do it. Im like: Hey, I got this great idea. You want it? Here you go. I saw it as clear as day. Everybody else saying no allowed me to be the director.