Director's Statement | Between The Folds

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT, VANESSA GOULD

At its heart, Between the Folds is a film about potential. The potential of an uncut paper square. The potential of a wild scientific idea. The potential to see things differently.

For as long as I can remember, the driving impulses behind art, science, sculpture and math have felt deeply connected—all ways of interpreting our experiences in a language that's universal. When I first learned about the curious phenomenon of fine artists, scientists and mathematicians from all over the world working in the very same medium of origami, I knew there had to be something special about it—that in the simplicity of a paper square must be hiding some untold potential for new connections and ideas.

Curiously, as a documentary project, this film has been less about telling a story and rather about finding an idea—layers of ideas. All of us involved in this project have been incredibly energized by the challenge of making a film about ideas—their evolution, their beauty, their paradoxes and mystery. We knew the project’s central themes would speak to different people in different ways, as any film about ideas should. Therefore, it was of great importance that its themes be presented subtly and flexibly, so that every viewer can experience the film in ways that are both universally resonant and personally meaningful.

For me, as a filmmaker, this has also been a project about transformation—not only of paper squares, but of people and lives also. Most of those featured in the film left traditional lives to devote themselves to the thing they love most—paperfolding: the magical process of transforming two dimensions into three dimensions. Their remarkable stories resonated so strongly with me upon abandoning my own former work, that I was determined to bring their inspiring stories of transformation to light. And so, my devotion to this film rests in the hope that others take inspiration from these incredible stories, as well.

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