The Birth Of Saké

The art of sake is captured and preserved by director Erik Shirai in the elegiac and richly observed documentary The Birth of Sake. Funded via Kickstarter and now finding audiences worldwide, Shirai's documentary follows the workers at the Tedorigawa Brewery as they leave their family and friends to dedicate themselves to a season of sake perfection. For six months, under the watchful eye of brewmaster Yamamoto Toji, the men toil assiduously at a painstaking handcrafted process that has slowly disappeared as breweries turn to machine-made solutions. Meanwhile, Tedorigawa's heir Yoshida Yasuyuki meets potential buyers, touting Tedorigawa's pursuit of quality while confronting the changing tastes of younger Japanese, for whom sake has lost favour.