What is "woodenhead"

Woodenhead is the name of 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 life of a dump-hand called Gert and a mute princess called Plum. The two wander into the forest with a donkey and mysterious things start to happen. The film explores the dark sexual material in this mythic context.

The film is unusual in that the sound and music were recorded before the film was shot, and does not match the visuals. It is in crisp black and white and was shot in the Northland Region. The voices of the main two characters are musicians Steve Abel and Mardi Potter and the actors are Nicholas Butler (NZ) and Teresa Peters.

The film was shown in the 2003 Auckland, Wellington and Melbourne international film festivals and has been released on DVD.

Florian Habicht has also made a film called Kaikohe Demolition, a loving look at the demolition derby in his hometown Kaikohe, and Rubbings from a Live Man, an intimate documentary about New Zealand actor, writer and director Warwick Broadhead.