Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a documentary starring Black women that follows them as they happily pursue a passion? Wouldn’t it be even sweeter if said program celebrated Black women’s bodies and sexuality without exploiting them and was steeped in authentic Black party culture as well? Well, TV and digital producer Noella Charles is about to develop and pitch a documentary series with just those fascinating elements. Says Charles, “I definitely want to do content that shows Black women in a different light.”
Trinidadian-born and Brooklyn raised Charles stayed in touch with her Caribbean roots while growing up, in part by attending the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn each year. “It was a family tradition, I still cherish those memories––hanging out with my mom and siblings, eating good food and listening to the music of my people!” she explains. She also ventured back and forth to Trinidad each year, though not necessarily always during its world-famous Carnival.
Though there are carnival celebrations rooted in West African culture, from Toronto to Brooklyn to Belgium and many other countries, Trinidad’s Carnival is one of the biggest and best known, rivaled only by Brazil and Barbados. Annually, beautiful women manage to be both glamorously and scantily clad at the same time while winin’ up their waists (and much more) to the high energy sounds of soca.
When Charles reached college, things ramped up and she got a carnival upgrade (no shade Brooklyn). “In my junior year of college,” she recalls, “my mother and grandmother said to me ‘We’re gonna pay for you to go down and enjoy Carnival.’” She explains that they had a desire for her to learn about and understand carnival as well as “be a part of it.”
A graduate of Temple University, Charles is now a television and digital producer at companies like Netflix, Starz, and Essence.com. She reveals the college trip to Trinidad’s Carnival was life-changing. “It was amazing,” she recalls. “It wasn’t like anything I had seen before!”
So inspired and proud of her culture was Charles that she is combining her skills with her passion and developing “Bikinis and Beads: the Women of Carnival.” It features three women involved in Trinidad’s Carnival culture in a big way. “I don’t think Carnival has been given its proper due and with my skills, connections and experience, I can make something that Trinidad could be proud of.”
Although it’s never explicitly stated, Charles says, “It’s the women who are really marketing Carnival. So I was like ‘Who are these women and what are their stories?’” Charles also feels it’s a way to redefine Back women’s sexuality in a way that is positive but not about sex.
The three women, according to Charles’ promotional materials, are: The Carnival Virgin; a busy lawyer and widowed mother of three who loves everything about Carnival Culture and will do anything to experience the Mecca of Carnival for the first time ever, even if it means navigating the sometimes dangerous and unfamiliar streets of Trinidad alone.
Then there’s the Carnival Veteran. Born in Bermuda, she is a serial entrepreneur who experiences Carnivals all over the world as a way to market her most successful endeavor, the Uber Soca Cruise. Jodi is experiencing the most success she’s ever seen in her entire life but with weeks left until Carnival, things take a turn for the worse when her partner is convicted after having been found guilty of murder. How is she supposed to enjoy Carnival when the only man she would ever marry is sitting in prison?
Finally, there’s the Carnival Professional. She’s a makeup artist who wants to have it all: transform the faces of women in Carnivals all over the world and experience the pure bliss of parading on the road. The only thing is, her ambition might prevent her from having the time to truly experience Carnival!”
Steeped in Black culture with a universal theme of community celebration, Charles advises that this isn’t a travel show, but an up close and personal look behind the scenes. “Bikinis and Beads” will be formatted as a five-part short form docuseries chronicling the women’s final preparations for Carnival, into the week-long bacchanalia that is Carnival. “It’s not about Carnival per se,” she says, “it’s about the women, but surrounded by everything that’s happening at Carnival.”
Charles describes the show as a cross between Netflix’ “Seven Days Out” and MTV’s “True Life” that in the wake of the #MeToo era, will also be empowering. “We’re scared to be sexually free now because people might get the wrong idea. So some people go there so they can feel free and do things they might not do in their normal lives.”
Prep for the bashment by following Noella on her adventure as she tries to get the show picked up, at @bikinisandbeads.