Biography
Florian Karner was born in Breisach in 1989. He developed an interest in filmmaking at an early age and shot his first short films when he was just 12 years old. In 2010, he gained professional experience working as second assistant director on Tomy Wigand's television film "Das große Comeback". In 2015, Karner began studying Documentary Directing at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. His student short documentary "Dubito Ergo Sum" received the Student Jury Award at the documentART Festival in Neubrandenburg in 2017. His 60-minute documentary "Alles optimiert" ("Optimizing Everything"), produced between 2020 and 2024, premiered at the 2024 Hof International Film Festival. Alongside his filmmaking work, Karner created video projections for stage productions at Comedia Theater Cologne, including "Werther in Love" and "Petra Pan."
In 2023, Karner began work on the feature-length documentary "Finding Connection," which follows four individuals for whom AI chatbots have become everyday companions and, in some cases, romantic partners. The film, which served as Karner's graduation project, premiered at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX) in 2026 and was released in German cinemas in August 2026.