Keeper of the Beat is a feature-length biographical documentary about Barbara Borden, an acclaimed 65-year-old drummer, composer, teacher and peacemaker. Keeper of the Beat, produced and directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker, David Brown, tells Barbara's story in words, music and rhythm.

Footage from She Dares to Drum, Barbara’s autobiographical “percussion play” which debuted in San Francisco in 1995, is used throughout the film as a performance narration. In excerpts from this play, Barbara provides dramatic accounts of her early drumming roots and developing career as a musician and performer while drumming on everything from her body to her first toy drum, pots and pans, a drumset and an array of ethnic drums and percussion instruments. Including interviews with a range of noted artists and thinkers, students, family and friends who know her and the social history of her times, Keeper of the Beat is produced and directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker, David Brown. about David...

Keeper of the Beat showcases the unfolding of Barbara’s identity as a world musician. Archival footage shows her career in performance, her leadership in drumming circles and peace and reconciliation projects, her teaching methods to bring drumming into all areas of life, and her exploration into the deeper cultural and ceremonial dimensions of drumming.

Guided by Barbara’s ongoing work to use drumming to raise joy and compassion, the film tells the fascinating story of a woman whose love of drumming and music gave her the courage to be her unique self and to find connectedness within a widening circle of communities throughout the world.