Florian Habicht is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

film director. Florian was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and moved with his family to the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, when he was eight. He went to high school in Kerikeri before attending the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

's Elam School of Fine Arts. There he began to make films using his classmates as actors and collaborators. The first of these to gain recognition was Liebestraume (2000), about eccentric musician Killer Ray. In 2003 he made the digital feature ''

Woodenhead ''Woodenhead'' is a 2003 New Zealand film directed by Florian Habicht. The film is a dark fairy tale in the style of the Brothers Grimm, and recounts the story of a dump-hand called Gert escorting a princess called Plum to her wedding. The two w ...

'', a surreal musical fairytale for which the entire soundtrack was recorded first and then the visuals were shot to match (and not match.)

was nominated in the Best Digital Feature section of the

New Zealand Film and TV Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...

and the film screened at a range of international festivals as well as being distributed in the US by Olive Films.Sourced with permission from biography on NZ On Screen
/ref> His next film '' Kaikohe Demolition'' (2004) was a portrayal of

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about 260 km from Auckland. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a population of ove ...

's demolition derby, the film won Best Digital Feature at the New Zealand Screen Awards. In 2003 Habicht attended the Binger Institute Filmlab in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

to develop his feature script ''Permissive Paradise''. In 2008, he completed '' Rubbings from a Live Man'', a documentary performed by its subject, theatre practitioner and artist Warwick Broadhead. The film was produced by

Philippa Campbell Philippa Campbell is a New Zealand film and television producer and the Literary Manager at the Auckland Theatre Company. Theatre Philippa Campbell began her career in the theatre as an actor and director in the 1980s. In 1981, she was involved in ...

(

Top of the Lake ''Top of the Lake'' is a mystery drama television series created and written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, and directed by Campion and Garth Davis. It aired in 2013, and the sequel, entitled ''Top of the Lake: China Girl'', in 2017. It mark ...

, Rain) In 2009 Habicht was the recipient of the inaugural Harriet Friedlander New York Artist Residency. During his stay in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

he filmed and performed in Love Story, which premiered at the opening night of the

New Zealand International Film Festival New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

in 2011. Love Story won Best Film, Best Director and Best editor at the New Zealand Film Awards that year. The film toured international festivals and in 2012 won the Audience Choice Award at the Pluk de Nacht Outdoor Film Festival in Amsterdam.

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

saw Love Story at the London International Film Festival and his British Pop group

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

have since collaborated with Habicht and UK producer Alex Boden (Cloud Atlas) on a feature documentary about Pulp and their home town Sheffield. The film was released in 2014. Habicht's father is the acclaimed '60s photographe
Frank Habicht
whose work, produced mostly in London and Berlin, has recently regained critical and popular interest.

References

Filmography (director)

*'' Liebestraume'' (2000) *''

'' (2003) *'' Kaikohe Demolition'' (2004) *'' Rubbings from a Live Man'' (2008) *'' Land of the Long White Cloud'' (2009) *'' Love Story'' (2011) *'' Pulp: A Film About Life, Death, And Supermarkets'' (2014) *'' Spookers'' (2017) *'' James & Isey (2021)

External links

- NZ Herald - Britpop band Pulp documentary/concert film

- Florian Habicht Official website
Florian's NZ On Screen profile

- Full length program to view - Documentary Kaikohe Demolition

Florian Habicht Arts Foundation of New Zealand page

- Love Story Facebook page {{DEFAULTSORT:Habicht, Florian Elam Art School alumni Living people New Zealand film directors German emigrants to New Zealand Year of birth missing (living people) Film directors from Berlin