Feature Competition

Born in 1940 in Exeter, England, de Hadeln's European family background provided him with an excellent education in art. His grandfather was the art historian Detlev Freiherr von Hadeln. His father, after a distinguished military career in the British army, founded an art edition company in Florence (Italy), his mother, born in Bucharest (Romania), was a renowned sculptor and painter. After attending schools in Italy, France and Switzerland, de Hadeln soon developed an early interest in photography and cinema. Moritz de Hadeln abandoned his university studies in chemistry and physics at the Sorbonne in Paris for an apprenticeship in an experimental film lab and film courses taught by Raimond Rouleau. 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. This was followed by several years of work with cinematographer Ernest Artaria. In 1966 de Hadeln directed his second film Ombres et Mirages and during this same period worked as an 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. From 1972 to 1977 de Hadeln headed the "Locarno International Film Festival", which under his watch, enjoyed a new era of international recognition. In 1979 de Hadeln was invited to direct the Berlin International Film Festival. He established the Berlinale as one of the best organised festivals in the world. In the early 1980s, in spite of the ongoing "Cold War" situation in the divided city, he managed to bring East and the West together at the festival. A 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 new German capital. He further developed the European Film Market and strengthened the ties with the international film industry. After years of detailed planning, in 2000 he successfully managed to move the event to the newly rebuilt Potsdamer Platz, while giving to the festival a new corporate identity. In 1982 he also introduced the Honorary Golden Bear, a special lifetime achievement award presented during the festival. Past winners have included James Stewart, Alec Guiness, Gregory Peck, Billy Wilder, Sophia Loren, Alain Delon, Elia Kazan, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak, Catherine Deneuve, Shirley MacLaine and Jeanne Moreau. Moritz de Hadeln has been named a 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 several medals, among which the "Cultura Hungarica" and the Silver Medal of the Slovak Republic. In November 2000, he was awarded the European Prize by the "European Film Forum" in Strasbourg as a "tribute to a great festival director". Moritz de Hadeln has been a member of the International Juries at the festivals of Oberhausen, Guadalajara, Montreal, Venice, Karlovy Vary and Chicago. From 2002 to 2003 de Hadeln headed the Venice Film Festival. Moritz de Hadeln has been member of the “Swiss Association of Film Directors” as well as President of the “International Association of Documentary Filmmakers” (A.I.D.). He is presently member of the “European Film Academy” (EFA).

Sandra den Hamer studied Film and Theatre Sciences at the University of Utrecht before joining Channel Four in England as a trainee in 1984. She began her association with the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in 1986, working as CineMart coordinator and festival producer, before becoming its deputy director in 1991. Since July 2000, Sandra co-directed the IFFR with Simon Field and was appointed as sole director of the festival in March 2004. Sandra is also responsible for overseeing the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart. She has actively participated in various international co-production workshops over the last 15 years, including Carthage (Tunis), Havana (Cuba), Pusan (Korea), Tokyo (Japan) and IFFM (New York, U.S.A.), and has been a jury member of FESPACO (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), Un Certain Regard (Festival de Cannes) and the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht. Sandra has served on the Dutch Film Fund’s advisory committee for feature films and as a board member of FINE (Film Investors Netherlands) and AVEA (Audiovisual Entrepreneurs of Africa).

Born 1937. The Director Kim Dong-ho majored in Law at the Seoul National University and received MA in Administration at the Hanyang University. Mr Kim had consecutively filled various government posts at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (formerly known as Ministry of Culture and Information) for 27 years. In addition, he served as the president at the Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation and at the Seoul Arts Center. He worked as the vice-Minister at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Now Kim Dong-ho is the Director at the Pusan International Film Festival and vice-chairman at the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema. Kim Dong-ho has been awarded many cultural medals in recognition of his achievements and efforts in the cultural development in South Korea as well as in the international society. The Director has served as the jury in the many other prestigious film festivals such as the Rotterdam, India and the Seattle International Film Festival. His recent book, ‘History of Korean Cinema Policy’ (written by Kim Dong-ho et al) was published in 2005.

Born in 1960 Sarikamis. After studying architecture at Karadeniz Technical University, she completed her master's degree at Yildiz University in Istanbul. She worked for a number of years as an architect, designer and restoration expert, and used her income to finance several short films that went on to receive critical acclaim. Her debut feature Iz (The Trace) was screened at numerous international festivals. Her next feature film, Günese Yolculuk (Journey to the Sun) told the moving story of a courageous friendship undaunted by political cruelty, and brought her international recognition and success. In competition at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival, Gunese Yolculuk received the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film and the Peace Prize, and swept the International Istanbul Film Festival by winning the Best Film, Best Director, FIPRESCI and Audience Awards. The screenplay for Bulutlari Beklerken (Waiting for the Clouds), her latest film, won the prestigious Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award in 2003.

Author, playwright, publicist. Born 1938 in Alexandria, Egypt. Graduated from Pyatigorsk Pedagogical Institute, studied at the Higher Screenplay Courses in Moscow. His first book was published in 1956. His books have been translated into 11 languages, including Russian, English, French and Arabic. He authored 12 plays staged in Yerevan theaters. He has been awarded the State Prize twice, he has the title of Merited Artist, he is an Honorary member of Rome Academy of Arts and Social Sciences, Tiberina, and an Honorary Citizen of Yerevan.