The international film world is mourning one of its most influential power brokers. Moritz de Hadeln, who led the Berlinale for two decades and also shaped the festivals of Locarno and Venice, has died. The British-born director passed away on Saturday (July 4) at the age of 85 in a hospital in Nyon, Switzerland, near his home. As his biographer Christian Jungen, director of the Zurich Film Festival, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter, de Hadeln succumbed to complications following a recent medical procedure.
It was that very Jungen who gave de Hadeln the nickname "Mr. Film Festival." For decades, he led three of Europe's most significant film festivals.
From Documentary Filmmaker to Festival Founder
Born in England in 1940, de Hadeln's career initially began behind the camera: as a documentary filmmaker and photographer. In 1963, he directed his first feature film, Le Pele. In Zurich, he worked alongside Yves Allégret as an editor, and in Berlin as an assistant director at the CCC film studios.
He laid the foundation for his true calling in 1969: Together with his wife Erika von dem Hagen, he established a documentary film festival in Nyon, which today operates as Visions du Réel. De Hadeln headed it until 1979, before his wife took over the management from 1981 to 1993.
Breakthrough in Locarno, Legendary Status in Berlin
In 1972, de Hadeln took the helm at the Locarno Film Festival and helped it achieve international renown. He is credited with ensuring that films were henceforth shown outdoors in the Piazza Grande, that trademark that defines Locarno to this day. After seven years, the call to Berlin followed.
From 1979, de Hadeln led the Berlinale. When the Wall fell in 1989, de Hadeln seized the opportunity and transformed the Berlinale into one of the most important destinations for international cinema in Europe.
After a total of 21 years at the helm of the Berlinale, de Hadeln moved to Venice in 2002, where until 2003 he modernized the festival's infrastructure and repositioned its reputation on the world stage.
Over the years, de Hadeln sat on countless international juries, including in Karlovy Vary, Venice, Moscow, Montreal, Turin, Tehran, Damascus, Kiev, and Yerevan. He was a member of the European Film Academy.
Controversial Comment on Weinstein
Not everything about his career was uncontroversial. In 2018, de Hadeln caused a stir when he wrote a guest article in the Swiss weekly newspaper Die Weltwoche defending disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein. In it, he described Weinstein as one of the few Hollywood producers "who truly loved cinema," calling the outrage against him "disgusting."
