Metro Australia — January 2018

(WallPaper) #1
http://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 195• 97

issues, including suicide attempts. Another performer talks
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man’s coming out and the antagonistic reaction of his family.
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having – as3@KDR NE SGD "HSXauthor Armistead Maupin would
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‘It’s amazing: they really support each other through it,’ Habicht
says, harking back to the sanctuary he discovered upon arriv
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in. When I got to art school, all of us were like, “Oh my god,
king of the nerds.”’
For Habicht, the camera is a shield. For the subjects of
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horror movie. As the director explains:


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even considers another staff member, young Mormon Huia
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Pennywise fromIt– to be a spiritual twin brother. ‘Meeting
him made the whole thing worthwhile,’ Habicht says.


Bearing on the past


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tients of having been subjected to abuse.^4 Habicht reached
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camera who’s a little bemused by the building’s new life as an
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spent eighteen years institutionalised there as a young woman.
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research, support and education at the University of Auckland.
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ful stereotypes surrounding mental illness.Her heartfelt,
intelligent argument provides a fascinating counterpoint to
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Apiata and co., according to Habicht.


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While, by the time of our interview, Florian hadn’t had a chance
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hopes that they can some day soon. He wonders if perhaps, by
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come to see some worth in what they are doing there, even if
she does not fully agree with their methods.


2ONNJDQRdoesn’t hide from the spectre of this fraught
narrative. Indeed, Habicht tackles it directly, asking several
performers whether they had pondered over the possible
harmful consequences of their performances on the wellbe
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Habicht detects, in these interviews, a naivety that he himself
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ing from her extensive insights took the documentary down
an alternative route that he had not previously envisaged.
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always prompting himself to engage with ethical considera
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tant to explore material in documentaries that can be seen
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family, Habicht draws parallels between his avowedly alterna
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Melbourne-based freelance arts writer who has indulged
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Endnotes

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