Sakae Ishikawa began her editing career as the staff assistant editor at the renowned documentary company, Maysles Films Inc., working with highly esteemed editors such as Deborah Dickson, Charlotte Zwerin, Bob Eisenhardt, and Bruce Sinofsky. In 1994, she left Maysles to be first assistant on a feature, Todd Haynes’ acclaimed independent film, SAFE. Realizing her love for unscripted documentary, Sakae went on to become an associate editor for the documentary SUZANNE FARRELL: ELUSIVE MUSE, a 1997 Academy Award Nominee. In 1998, she moved to Istanbul, Turkey where she worked on a documentary series about a modern day Turkish caravan retracing the Silk Road. Upon her return, she edited THE EDUCATION OF GORE VIDAL, an entry in the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, which was directed by Deborah Dickson. She also worked at New York Times Television on several shows including ‘RAISING THE FLAG’, which looked at the history of U.S. military occupations around the world and ‘BATTLE PLAN UNDER FIRE’ which looked at the military’s transformation after September 11. She is currently directing BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, a documentary portrait of a historic town in Southeastern Turkey, which is being threatened by the building of a mega-dam on the Tigris River.