Sponsored by Bobbie Bush Portrait Artist, Coffee Time Bake Shop & The Phoenix School

Taiko drums have existed in Japan for over 2,000 years. The drumming art has been off limits to women for centuries. Until now.

In the midst of a frozen Minnosota winter with Covid rumbling in the background, a master of Japanese drumming and a Korean adoptee from Minnesota join forces to convene an all-female troupe of the world’s best Taiko drummers and claim a cultural spotlight previously reserved only for men. Through grueling rehearsals, the talented women share their vulnerability, pain, and joys and navigate their way through differences in culture, age, language, and performing styles.

As the clock ticks toward their first performance, it’s clear their story has become much larger than Taiko. Buoyed by dynamic drum performances and do-or-die spirit, FINDING HER BEAT is an energizing and uplifting story of music, cultural expression and, above all, sisterhood.

Taiko drumming performance precedes the film screening. A Q&A with Film Subject and Producer Jennifer Weir follows the screening at the Peabody Essex Museum.