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).
