The Solace of Sisterhood is a journey alongside the Caramel Curves. Through the two co-founders' heartfelt stories, we witness sisterhood and the lessons learned passed to the next generation.

Interview with Writer/Producer/Director Anna Andersen and Geneva Peschka

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

ANNA: I grew up in a single-mother household and I had a complicated relationship with my birth mother. This experience caused me to seek out stories that shared different aspects of mother/daughter relationships and to uplift narratives of triumph and love. When Geneva’s friend mentioned doing a film on the Caramel Curves, an all-Black female biker crew in New Orleans, we were immediately drawn to their story. In co-founders Shanika "Tru" Beatty and Nakosha "Coco" Curry, I saw a powerful bond of sisterhood that transcended traditional familial ties - one that resonated deeply with my yearning to celebrate the strength and resilience of women creating their own chosen families. My reasons that I co-made Solace of Sisterhood were to amplify unexpected stories like those of Tru and Coco and challenge societal norms while exploring the multifaceted identities of these remarkable women.

By documenting their authenticity, vulnerability, and pursuit of freedom through riding, I hoped to inspire others to embrace their authentic selves and foster a deeper understanding of the experiences of Black women and all women. This film also became a vessel for me to heal and find solace in the transformative power of sisterhood - a bond offering a sense of belonging and acceptance that I may have yearned for in my complicated family dynamics. Through working with Geneva and seeing the Caramel Curves' defiance of gender norms and fierce embracement of their identities, I saw a path to uplifting narratives of female triumph over adversity. The Solace of Sisterhood allowed me to explore different facets of chosen families and the diverse forms that mother/daughter bonds can take. In making this film, I aimed to pay tribute to the incredible women who redefined sisterhood for me.

GENEVA: As a woman of color, creating visibility and working on changing narratives to ones that bring light to the truth, is really important to me. My past work explores this greatly and when the opportunity came up to co-direct a new project with Anna the timing was perfect with my friend, Aristotle Torres, sharing the story of the Caramel Curves. As Anna mentioned, we were immediately excited to work with them and to share their story in a different light than it had been shown in the past.

Their story brings light to community and sisterhood, but also the importance of visibility. Tru notes in the film that growing up she didn’t see anyone who looked like her riding. This is important and we wanted to highlight their story to share who they are, and what they do, for others to see themselves in these stories and the powerful possibilities that can come from that. That’s the power of storytelling. We can help hold space for people to truly be seen and heard while re-writing a more inclusive, just narrative for us all.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

As an audience member, you should watch The Solace of Sisterhood because it provides a much-needed perspective on women in motorcycle culture. Unlike typical biker films focused on toughness and the bikes themselves, this documentary takes a softer approach, centring softness, femininity, and profound sisterhood. By following the Caramel Curves, an all-Black female biker crew in New Orleans, you'll witness a remarkable community defying societal norms.

The film follows co-founders Shanika "Tru" Beatty and Nakosha "Coco" Curry, showcasing their authenticity and how riding fosters empowerment, legacy, and intergenerational bonds. Rather than hyper-masculinity, The Solace of Sisterhood celebrates the multifaceted identities of its participants. You'll see motorcycle passion passed down from mother to daughter that celebrates legacy and community.

This counter-narrative expands the understanding of female riders. It challenges perceptions, embracing a nuanced view of motorcycle culture through the lens of sisterhood's transformative power on two wheels. The film invites you to reconsider what it means to be a woman who rides.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

In crafting this film, we aimed to weave together the deeply personal stories of Shanika, Skye, and Nakosha with largeruniversal themes that would resonate broadly. On an intimate level, we explored the challenges and journeys toward creating community, finding freedom and softness, and passing on the legacy that these Black women faced while carving out space in a male-dominated world. However, their narratives opened the door to universally resonant concepts - the power of sisterhood, the human desire for authentic self-expression, and the importance of legacy. Riding became a metaphor for that universal quest for freedom.

By allowing audiences to see themselves reflected in these personal stories, the film tapped into shared human experiences that transcended individual backgrounds. Whether it was the longing for community, the pursuit of identity, findingfreedom, or simply finding solace through passion, The Solace of Sisterhood offered up a mirror to our own lived realities. Ultimately, this interplay of the personal and universal created a richly textured experience that inspired empathy, celebrated diversity within our shared human experience, and reminded us all of the transformative power of following one's authentic path.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Just a lot of love for the film! We’ve been written up in Forbes and other publications and the curators at Tribeca have been very complimentary as well as the audience at the festival.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We are hoping to get the word out about the film and have people learn about the incredible work and community The Caramel Curves are building.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We’d love to have other journalists write about the piece. We are hoping to do an Oscar run with the short. We are also looking for buyers, distributors, and sales agents.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

With The Solace of Sisterhood, we hope to challenge perceptions and expand society's understanding of female motorcyclists. By intimately portraying the Caramel Curves, we want audiences to reconsider biases and the hyper-masculine stereotypes around bikers. More importantly, we aspire to foster greater empathy and create more visibility and appreciation for the multifaceted experiences of Black women. Through personal stories, I hope viewers gain insight into the intersectional challenges they face and their incredible resilience in defying expectations.

Furthermore, we want this film to inspire audiences, especially marginalized communities, to embrace authenticity without apology. By witnessing the power of sisterhood, we hope it empowers viewers to create their own safe spaces and pursue their passions fearlessly. Ultimately, our greatest desire is for this documentary to celebrate diversity, uplift stories of the unexpected, and spark conversations that challenge biases. If it inspires even one person to embrace their truth, it will have achieved its purpose.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

In what ways does this film challenge traditional representations and narratives surrounding women, especially women of color, in motorcycle culture and male-dominated spaces? A follow-up question would be — How does this film allow the participants to find softness and vulnerability in a film about riding?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

ANNA: I am wrapping up production on a feature documentary following the profound journeys of Deborah Mellen and Dianne Vitkus, two remarkable women whose lives were transformed by the Impossible Dream catamaran. Deborah, an adventurer who became paraplegic, evolved the Impossible Dream into a vessel empowering sailors with disabilities through competitive racing and inclusivity.

Dianne, a former surgical PA who became quadriplegic at 27, risked losing access to adventure - until discovering the Impossible Dream. This reignited her independence as she trained for a grueling sailing race, navigating her disability while chasing her dreams. Through their extraordinary sailing crew, the film provides a powerful lens into resilience, adaptability, reclaiming one's sense of self, and the universal pursuit of independence against systemic barriers.

GENEVA: I’m currently working on two short films that I’m directing. One I can’t talk about at the moment and the other is with Magician Nicole Cardoza. Both films are very different from each other but shed light on the importance of visibility and narratives shifting through celebration, an important theme in my work in general. I also work as a commercial and branded documentary director in the US and Canada and have some upcoming work in these areas as well.

Interview: June 2024

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

The Solace of Sisterhood

The Solace of Sisterhood is a journey alongside the Caramel Curves. Through the two co-founders' heartfelt stories, we witness sisterhood and the lessons learned passed to the next generation.

Length: 10:05

Director: Anna Andersen, Geneva Peschka

Producer: Anna Andersen, Geneva Peschka, Jeremy Blum

Writer: Anna Andersen, Geneva Peschka

About the writer, director and producer:

ANNA ANDERSEN explores female identity, unknown worlds, and complex mother-daughter relationships through acclaimed films while advocating for diversity and accessibility in the documentary space.

GENEVA PESCHKA is a Black woman in the film and commercial space, focusing on changing the narrative in front and behind the camera, greatly knowing the importance and need of visibility and autonomy in telling our own stories. With a focus on collaborative storytelling and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, Geneva aims to work with others to share their stories in an authentic celebratory light to change narratives.

JEREMEY BLUM hailing from New Orleans is an Emmy-nominated Producer who received a Special Jury Mention at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Jeremy is an alum of the New Orleans Film Society’s 2023 Southern Producers Lab.

Key cast: Shanika 'Tru' Beatty, Skye Beatty, Nakosha 'Coco' Curry

Looking for: sales agents, distributors, buyers

Instagram: @annalouiseimagery, @gneva

Hashtags used: #CaramelCurvesmc #womenwhoride #woc #poc #Pinkmohawks #Burnoutqueens

Other: YouTube

Made in association with: Fujifilm

Funders: Fujifilm

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Tribeca — NYC, June 12th, 15th, and 16th.