The Map Reader is being billed as a comedy-drama, but leans more toward drama. The story is about Michael (Jordan Selwyn) – a 16-year-old whose passion for maps helps him escape his ordinary life and enjoy a state of isolation from those around him. Yet, three women each play an important part in his life  – his single mother Amelia (Rebecca Gibney), a blind 20-year-old called Mary (Bonnie Soper) and Alison (Mikaila Hutchinson), a friend whose ‘grace betrays darker secrets’ of an abusive father.

Filmmaker Harold Brodie is an American living in New Zealand and the idea of a boy who absorbs himself in maps comes from his own captivation as a child. I bring the trailer The Map Reader to Screenhead because it debuted to sell out theatres at the Austin Film Festival and won the Spirit of the Independent award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.