After reunification he switched to freelance work, taking on a number of the jobs that he previously performed within the East German state directed movie industry.
Particularly noteworthy was his appearance in what sources identify as a "James Bond parody", entitled "Live and Let Die", and directed by Dror Zahavi who was a student contemporary at the academy.
At the 1984 (so-called) "Potsdam International Student Film Festival", Habel's performance earned him that year's "best actor" prize.
[1] 1989 was a year of intensifying tensions on the city streets, and there was a growing perception that changes must be on the way even if there was little clear idea consensus as to what that might involve.
During the summer Habel launched himself as a freelancer, undertaking a range of jobs in the worlds of film, television and cinema.
Sources report that over the next couple of years he earned his living variously as an author, as a dramaturge, in film distribution, as a critic, as a prize-jury member, as an exhibition curator, as a presenter-moderator and as an actor.
He also accepted a number of invitations to work as a guest lecturer at various educational institutions, both within East Germany and abroad.
He was a founder member of the Interessenverband Filmkommunikation (IVFK), as it known at its launch in 1990 as an umbrella organisation representing and promoting the interests of arts cinemas and film club in the so-called "New Federal states" ("Neue Bundesländer" - former East Germany) and immediately became a member of the IVFK executive committee.