With over 10 years experience and six feature films, writer/director Florian Habicht is continually exploring new ways to tell a story.
Florian was born in Berlin, and immigrated with his family to New Zealand in the eighties. He studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland and Binger Filmlab, Amsterdam. He is responsible for some of NZ’s most innovative films.
His debut feature WOODENHEAD (2003), a Grimm-inspired musical fairytale, is renowned for its unique process. In lieu of writing a screenplay, Florian first recorded the soundtrack including dialogue, music and location sounds, in the style of a radio play. He then shot the black and white visuals, giving the film it’s fairy tale like quality.
His well-loved documentary KAIKOHE DEMOLITION (2004), reveals the heart and soul of Far North town Kaikohe, as it follows a group of regulars at the local demolition derby.
In his 2010 feature film LOVE STORY, Florian shot the film’s opening sequence and then asked New Yorkers on the streets of NYC for love advice and ideas on what should happen next in the story. These were then acted out by Habicht & actress Masha Yakovenko.
When LOVE STORY screened at the London Film Festival, Jarvis Cocker of PULP invited Florian to make a feature documentary about the UK group. This became Florian’s most recent endeavour PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS.
Florian went on to shoot three short films in the UK: on musician BECK, spiritual speed dating, and Japanese band BOREDOMS. These ‘Random Acts’ were commissioned by Channel 4.
In 2017 Florian released his latest feature film SPOOKERS, and has two other feature films in development.
