Kiwi filmmaker Ant Timpson forges a new path with Bookworm, an adventure movie for all ages.

A New Zealand film shot in Canterbury showcases iconic landscapes on the big screen – and brings the legendary ‘Canterbury panther’ to life.

Bookworm also brings Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood back to New Zealand, alongside young UK talent Nell Fisher. Wood plays washed-up American illusionist Strawn Wise, who ventures into the wilderness with his estranged 11-year-old daughter, Mildred, in search of a mythical beast.

The film is co-written and directed by Kiwi Ant Timpson, perhaps best known for launching the Incredibly Strange Film Festival and the national film competition 48Hours – and more recently for producing Mr Organ. It is a shift away from Timpson’s earlier genre films being more a nod to those of his childhood, such as The Adventures of the Wilderness Family (1975). 

“I grew up with films that didn’t pander to children; films parents and kids saw together, and both got a kick out of,” said Timpson. “I wanted to hark back to that feeling.” 

He and co-writer Toby Harvard are both parents and the idea for the film grew from a mutual fear of failing in front of their children. 

“Riffing off this anxiety-laden premise, we came up with fun scenarios in which a father could be completely emasculated and taken through the wilderness-wringer by a precocious offspring.”

Bookworm was filmed almost entirely on location in April and May last year. The crew travelled from their Methven base to capture Strawn and Mildred’s adventures.

“It almost felt like a camping trip. We were moving to various areas, staying on stations and attempting to predict weather patterns that could change in a heartbeat,” said Timpson. “Everyone was on the Windy app.”

In the Hawdon Valley on the first day, it “all went to custard”, necessitating a last-minute change in the shooting schedule. “Then we had three days up on Flock Hill where we really needed consistency, and we got lucky.”

Logistics were challenging. Gear was choppered into hard-to-reach locations like Flock Hill, and with as many as 27 drop times in a day, it was an exercise in military precision.

Timpson is grateful to the experienced pilots for that, and for the opportunity to shoot aerial footage. 

“That’s a dream for me. I’m not a huge fan of the overuse of drones, but classic helicopter aerial photography is stunning … To immerse the audience in that terrain you need the right people behind you.” 

Timpson’s extensive background in production helped with logistics. His shift to directing was prompted by his father’s death and the need to step out of his comfort zone while there was still time. His directorial debut, the acclaimed Come to Daddy (2019), also starred Wood and was produced by the same team, making Bookworm “a family reunion of sorts”.

It was a shift from comedy and horror for Timpson. “I’m very comfortable with pure genre and those darker, more outrageous aspects. [Toby and I] wanted to keep an eye on how we can work with those same elements without violence.”

Both Come to Daddy and Bookworm deal with estrangement, but Timpson said his childhood was pretty tame. He grew up in Auckland in the 70s when movie-going was the leading form of entertainment. He watched British cinema with his dad and horror films with his mum. 

Bookworm is infused with nostalgia, right down to the camping equipment, and Timpson hopes parents and children will connect with it. “It’s a throwback to films that now feel lost in time, where the stakes were semi low-key and audiences just had a great time hanging out with vibrant and oddball characters.”

As for the Canterbury panther, he’s a believer. “Maybe not a full-blooded panther, but some mixed-up DNA out there.”

– Bookworm is in cinemas from August 8.