Taglines: Adventure called her name … unfortunately dad answered.
Bookworm movie storyline. Mildred is a bookish 11-year-old girl who lives with her mother in New Zealand and is interested in the Canterbury panther. One night, an exploding toaster puts her mother into a coma. Mildred’s magician father Strawn arrives from the United States, but Mildred is upset with him for his absence from her life and is unimpressed by his magic tricks. Strawn agrees to take Mildred on a camping trip, during which Mildred hopes to capture footage of the panther. The reward for such footage is $50,000, enough to pay off Mildred’s mother’s debts.
Mildred and Strawn find the panther drinking from a stream, and Mildred films it on her video camera. Strawn and Mildred then meet a pair of hikers who give their names as Arnold and Angelina and begin travelling with them. Arnold robs Strawn, taking Strawn’s phone and wallet and Mildred’s camera, before Arnold and Angelina depart. The next day, Strawn and Mildred come across Arnold and Angelina arguing in their tent. Mildred steals Arnold’s bag, and she and Strawn run away. Mildred finds her camera in Arnold’s bag but discovers that Arnold and Angelina have filmed over her panther footage.
The panther approaches Strawn and Mildred at the edge of a chasm, and the duo begin crossing the chasm on a rope to escape. The panther claws through the rope, and Strawn and Mildred fall into the chasm. When Strawn regains consciousness, he finds that Mildred’s legs are trapped under a log. He gives her a hallucinogenic mushroom to ease the pain and lifts the log off of her legs.
Bookworm is a 2024 New Zealand adventure comedy drama film directed by Ant Timpson, based on a screenplay by Toby Harvard. The film is about a young girl named Mildred embarking on an adventure with her estranged American father Strawn Wise to seek out the mythical Canterbury panther. Bookworm stars Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher. The film had its world premiere at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival on July 18, 2024. It was released in New Zealand on August 8, 2024.
Bookworm was filmed in the Canterbury Region’s MacKenzie Basin over a period of two months in 2023. Daniel Katz, who had previously collaborated with Timpson in Come to Daddy, served as the film’s cinematographer. The film’s producers were Emma Slade, Roxi Bull, Victoria Dabbs, Mette-Marie Kongsved and Laura Turnstall.
The film was produced by Firefly Films. It also received funding from the New Zealand Film Commission, the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate, Talon Entertainment, Orogen Entertainment, Screen Canterbury, Images and Sound, Mister Smith Entertainment and KiwiBank.
Bookworm (2024)
Directed by: Ant Timpson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Nell Fisher, Michael Smiley, Nikki Si’ulepa, Morgana O’Reilly, Vanessa Stacey, Theo Shakes, Millen Baird
Screenplay by: Toby Harvard
Production Design by: John Allan
Cinematography by: Daniel Katz
Film Editing by: Daniel Kircher
Costume Design by: Jaindra Watson
Set Decoration by: Michelle Freeman, Michelle Freeman
Art Direction by: Mark Brownlie
Music by: Karyn Rachtman, Karl Steven
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Rialto Distribution, Mister Smith Entertainment (international)
Release Date: August 8, 2024 (New Zealand)
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