Moritz de Hadeln

Moritz de Hadeln, initially a photographer and a documentary filmmaker, has been director of the Nyon International documentary Film Festival from 1969 to 1979, director of the Locarno International Film Festival from 1972 to 1979, from 1979 to 2001, Executive Director of the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2002 and 2003 he directed the Venice International Film Festival and in 2005, he was the Program Director of the newly created Montreal International Film Festival.Born in 1940 in Exeter, England, de Hadeln's European family background provided him with a unique education in the Arts. His grandfather Detlev Freiherr von Hadeln (1878-1935) was a prominent art historian of Venetian Renaissance, his father Harry founded an art edition company in Florence (Italy) and his mother (Alexandra Balaceano - Bucharest, 1911 / Florence, 1977) was a renowned sculptor and painter. After freelancing as a photographer, de Hadeln was given the opportunity to direct his first documentary "Le Pèlé" (1963), produced by the Swiss company Teleproduction in Zurich. Followed several years of work with cinematographer Ernest Artaria. In 1967, de Hadeln directed his second film "Ombres et Mirages" and during this same period, worked as a film editor in Zurich together with Yves Allegret and as assistant director at CCC Film Studios in Berlin. In 1969, Moritz de Hadeln and his wife Erika founded the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival in Switzerland, which he directed until 1979. He assisted Erika when she took over as head of the festival from 1980 to 1994. In those 25 years, they made Nyon a unique meeting place for documentary filmmaking while discovering many new talents. From 1972 to 1977, de Hadeln headed the Locarno International Film Festival, heralding a new era of international recognition. He gave an original profile to the newly introduced outdoor screening on the Piazza Grande and introduced several sidebar events to broaden the festival's international impact. In 1979, de Hadeln was invited to direct the Berlin International Film Festival. He established the German event as one of the best organized festivals in the world. In the early 80s, in spite of the ongoing "Cold War"situation in the divided city, he managed to bring East and the West together at the festival. Together with Beki Probst, he founded the "European Film Market". Tireless world traveler, de Hadeln was one of the first to discover the newly emerging Chinese cinema. As the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and German unity was restored, de Hadeln was quick in seizing the opportunity to make the festival one of the most prestigious meeting places of the newly born German capital. After years of detailed planning, in 2000, he successfully managed to relocate the event in the newly rebuilt Potsdamer Square, the historical heart of the town, while giving to the festival a new corporate identity. In May 2001, Moritz de Hadeln founded in Berlin together with his wife Erika "de Hadeln & Partners", a company specializing in film consulting and event management. In March 2002, as first ever non-Italian, Moritz de Hadeln was invited to head the Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica) - part of the Biennale of Venice. He directed only the two events in 2002 and in 2003. During this short period, while fighting for the independence of the event from external influences, he started modernizing its organizational infrastructure and giving it a renewed international prestige. Finally, early in 2005 he was called as Program Director of the New Montreal International Film Festival, an event wanted by the Government authorities both Federal and of Quebec. The first and only edition of the event, meant as "work in progress", took place from September 18 to 25, 2005. In spite of the limited time available, Moritz de Hadeln and his team were able to deliver a program with over 22 world premieres. But local mismanagement by those in charge of its organization led regretfully to discontinue the event. Both for the festivals in Nyon, Locarno and later in Berlin, Moritz de Hadeln together with his wife Erika, were the authors of several landmark retrospectives, among many others "The Uzbek cinema" (1971), "The New Indian Cinema"(1972), "Canadian 'cinema-direct' 1958-1972" (1976), "The 'March of Time' newsreels" (1978), "Drew Associates 1960-1969" (1981), "Selling Switzerland - Marketing Guillaume Tell" (1984), "Swiss Army Film Unit"(1985), "Panorama of the South East Asian Cinema" (1980) and together with Hans-Joachim Schlegel: "Documentary films of the Baltic Soviet Republics" (1987/88), "Documentary Films of the Armenian Soviet Republic" (1989/90), "Romania: the documentary films 1898-1990" (1990/91). Moritz de Hadeln is Commander in the Order of the Arts and Letters of the French Ministry of Culture (1986), Commander in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1988) and Officer in the Order of Merits of the Federal Republic of Germany (2000). He has been awarded, among others, the honorary medal Pro Cultura Hungarica(1986) the Silver Medal of the Slovak Cinematography (1986). the European Prize of the European Film Forum in Strasbourg as "tribute to a great festival director" (2000), the honorary medal of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (2001), the Gay Teddy Bear (2001) and, together with his wife Erika, an honorary FIPRESCI prize, an honorary Oecumenical Jury prize (2001) and the Armenian Filmmakers Union ANAHIT Award (2006) for their "great effort promoting Armenian Cinema and helping it find its place in the international cinema scene". He has been awarded at the 20 Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran (2002) and in Syria at the Damascus International Film Festival (2003) with an Honorary Diploma of Appreciation. Author of several publications, Moritz de Hadeln has served on many International Juries among others in Karlovy Vary, Venice, Moscow, Montreal, Torino, Tehran , Damascus and Yerevan. He is member of the European Film Academy (EFA). Swiss citizen since 1986, Moritz de Hadeln currently resides in Berlin (Germany) and Gland (Switzerland).