You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger contrast than that between Ninety Mile Beach and New York City.
But young Northland film-maker Florian Habicht has been fishing for inspiration at both locations, with the results now on DVD.
Habicht's fishing flick Land of the Long White Cloud was filmed in 2009 at the now defunct Snapper Classic fishing contest on Ninety Mile Beach, and had its Northland premiere at Kerikeri's refurbished Cathay Cinemas in January this year.
Since then the Berlin-born, Paihia-raised film-maker has been in New York as the inaugural winner of an $80,000 arts residency sponsored by Harriet Friedlander and the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
Land of the Long White Cloud has been described as "fishing meets philosophy", with Snapper Classic contestants musing on topics such as life after death and whether fish have feelings.
Habicht continued his fishing in the US, asking New Yorkers on the subway, city streets and in Central Park whether they believed fish had feelings.
The results are an extra on the freshly released Land of the Long White Cloud DVD, which also includes footage from the Northland and Auckland premieres.
Habicht is due home in early December, when he will work on his impressions of New York "dressed in the form of a love story Florian-style".
The DVD is available at Kerikeri Paper Plus, Mahoe Cheesery at Oromahoe, Paihia Bookshop, Paihia Video Mix, Paihia Library, Russell Bookshop and on-line at www.picturesforanna.com. It can also be rented from Paihia Video Mix, Paihia Library and other DVD outlets.
And while the long-running Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Classic might be dead and buried, a group of Kaitaia businessmen have banded together to organise a replacement tournament. The five-day Captain Morgan 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza will have a top prize of $30,000 and will run from March 8-12 next year.
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