A most remarkable video, Traditional Sheet Formation Around the World, has been assembled by Elaine Koretsky from more than a quarter century of papermaking research and documentation. Despite showing twenty-eight different scenes of papermakers forming sheets, this video remains both breathtaking and riveting, through careful narration and a logical grouping and sequencing of techniques. In her introduction, Koretsky expresses a sentiment familiar to all who know the process of making paper by hand: "…the most dramatic step is the mysterious moment when a pulpy, amorphous mass is suddenly transformed into a cohesive sheet of paper." While experts usually consider one of the many other stages in the process of making paper the most critical to the final result—beating, preparation of the fiber in general, or even drying—sheet forming is the most magical and interesting to watch. Forming sheets of paper is relatively quick, in the middle of other, typically much longer steps. Fibers may be soaked for years, then steamed, cooked, beaten, and dried for hours or days, but most sheets are formed in seconds. One notable exception highlighted in this video is the bamboo paper used as a substrate for beating gold leaf in Burma. Papermaker Htun Shwe takes ten minutes to form each sheet and we see his entire careful, methodical, and beautifully controlled process. Some of the methods shown, like this one, are formal and deliberate; others are casual and almost careless (including the slapdash Burmese method that Koretsky calls "anything goes," which immediately follows the bamboo example). Often, as Koretsky points out, the amount of attention given to forming the sheet relates directly to its end use. A sheet meant for calligraphy is formed much more attentively than one that will become cardboard padding or packing material. The video covers a broad geographical area, from Japan to England. The vast majority of papermakers depicted live in Asia, most of them in China with a secondary focus on Southeast Asia. Czechoslovakia is also represented (by scenes from the historic Velke Losiny Papermill). While the geographic balance may seem a little uneven, the variety of methods shown is rich. All of the papermakers are part of what Koretsky refers to as "unbroken traditions, many going back in time hundreds of years." One clear example of this is shown in Ma Village, Sichuan Province, China, where Koretsky first documented Shi Fuli making paper in 1985 and then recorded his son, eight years later, forming sheets using the exact same motions. Although the video shows only one Japanese papermaker, in Ogawa-Machi, it includes footage from Taiwan, Korea, and China of variations on the elegant nagashizuki-style papermaking, in which the fiber is sloshed back and forth in the mould, this step lengthened by the slow drainage of pulp with formation aid. (Others have documented the vigorous and flashy acrobatics of nagashizuki-style sheet forming, so the absence of more examples from Japan in this video is forgiven.) The papermakers, with whom Koretsky clearly has a close affinity (she names many of them and identifies some as friends), are grouped not by region but by similarity of technique. These similarities allow the viewer to focus on the sometimes subtle differences between each adjacent pair. The first eight scenes show papermakers pouring paper pulp into moulds. These are followed by one hybrid technique (a dipped technique but using a mould on which the sheet is left to dry), and nineteen examples in which a screen is dipped into pulp and then transferred off the screen surface for drying. Koretsky shows us a considerable range of moulds, from the crudest of structures to deckle boxes to finely crafted frames, used with intricately designed deckles and deckle sticks. The classification of just three main types of mould, familiar to most contemporary American papermakers—typically named Western, Japanese, and Nepalese—falls far short in the group shown here. In addition to examples of these, we witness removable stiff, flat screens, with and without hinged moulds and deckles; bamboo screens on wooden frames with no deckles at all; and a mould-frame with a two-inch high back, against which the papermaker sloshes the pulp. Even some of the ways the papermakers use traditional-style moulds to form sheets are unexpected, such as the almost free-floating-in-air technique of Mrs. Nei Weng Chang, in Guizhow Province, China. Mrs. Chang combines a pouring method with mould agitation more commonly used with dipped sheets (like the Korean method shown in still images from Kim Yeon Yon's visit to Boston in 1980). Also notable are the different and interesting ways the papermakers have of evening the distribution of pulp on the moulds, in both the poured and the dipped methods. In her clear and illustrative narration, Koretsky points out small, important details that help distinguish one sheet forming technique from the next. This helps focus our attention on nuances key to the process. She explains the reason for some of the unique actions made by the papermakers, such as running a stick under the surface of a mould with a newly made sheet still on it (to aid drainage), or momentarily resting the mould with a formed sheet on the surface of the water in the vat (to make it easier to later remove the sheet from the mould). Considering the challenging on-site locations in which the papermakers were photographed, Sidney Koretsky did an admirable job filming or videotaping each scene. He managed to either overcome or simply work with poor lighting, cramped quarters, awkward angles, and curious children blocking the view. His steady shots and valuable close-ups further enhance the experience. Unobtrusive music, indigenous to each location depicted, serves as background to the narration. A printed transcript of the narration helpfully accompanies the video, with footnotes identifying additional details and music sources. Those of us who know the Koretskys are used to hearing reports from their frequent research trips, especially to Asia, and we might sometimes take these fact-finding missions for granted. This wonderful video, containing footage spanning twenty-six years, demonstrates the actual rarity of their accomplishments. Not merely a staged demonstration of different sheet forming techniques, which might have been done in a comfortable studio with controlled lighting and other conveniences, this video is important first-hand ethnographic documentation of papermakers doing on site what they do every day: making handmade paper in their work places and homes. Produced through the Koretskys' perseverant and inquisitive efforts over many years, it is a treasure and a delight. Michael Durgin