Don't listen to the negative reviews

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Blistering performances.

I am half Japanese, so origami was a part of my cultural upbringing. I sat down to watch this movie mostly on a whim, figuring that I already knew everything there was to know about this craft. Boy, was I wrong. I was in a state of continual awe throughout this documentary. I had no idea that origami had been taken to such amazing heights. Not only is it a beautiful art form, but it is also being used as a tool for education, for research, for mathematical and scientific theories. You will see origami that moves and transforms. You will see spectacular "paper sculptures" that you would never even imagine was created simply by folding one piece of paper, with no cuts or adhesive. I am so glad this documentary was made because I never would have known how much this Japanese art form has evolved. The music and narration in this documentary are also quite eloquent and beautiful. I hope more people will see this inspiring film!

The documentary itself is very interesting. The interview subjects are fascinating and the work they do is amazing. You'll never look at a plain piece of paper the same way. My inner nerd was particularly interested in the math and engineering aspects of paper-folding, and it's always nice to be reminded that the great artists do their best work when they're working under restrictions.Alas, director Vanessa Gould inexplicably chose to narrate this herself, and her voice-over work is so annoying and affected that it just about submarines the whole thing. I had to watch it in small doses, even though it's only 50 minutes long. A good VO performer would have made all the difference.

One enters Between the Folds thinking this is about origami. By the end of it, I realized the implications of paper folding are much richer and more complex than I am able to grasp. The film takes one on an aesthetic trip, a mind trip, a math trip and ends up showing how this (seemingly) simple act can affect/explain/develop/interpret an almost endless set of understandings about our world. It deserves to be shown in every school from 3rd grad through grad school, and if anyone wondered about the intersection of art and science, they will find here. Entertaining, amazing, extremely well executed, one has to be asleep not to be moved and motivated to want this to be minimally on TED and let it spread virally.

There are two creative wonders working here -- the incredible range of artists, scientists and people with vision from all over who have made origami a passion, an art, and a way into understanding their place in the world. The other creative wonder is the film itself, which takes us on a journey from a square of paper to the inside of the minds of creative artists. The film is, in some ways, a work of origami too, for it's folded into different sections, and the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts. If you can catch it at a film festival, don't miss it. And I'm sure this film, by a talented first-time filmmaker, will end up in other venues, win awards, and hopefully someday be available on DVD.