Moritz de Hadeln, Venice and Berlin Festival Leader, Dies at 85

Moritz de Hadeln, the pioneering festival director who shaped the Venice Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Locarno Film Festival across five decades, has died at 85, according to Deadline. Born in Exeter, England, to a family of artists, de Hadeln began his career as a photographer and documentary filmmaker before moving into festival leadership, becoming one of the most influential figures in European cinema programming.

De Hadeln's tenure at Venice and Berlin placed him at the centre of the world's most prestigious film festivals at a moment when European cinema was reasserting itself after the post-war period. His curatorial decisions shaped which films reached international audiences and which directors gained global recognition, making the festivals platforms not merely for exhibition but for critical conversation about cinema's role in culture.