Moritz de Hadeln, president of the International Jury of The 14th Damascus International Film Festival

The minister of Culture of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr.Mahmoud Al-Sayyed, and the head of the Syrian National Film Organization and Festival Director, Mohamad Al-Ahmad, have invited Moritz de Hadeln - former director of the Locarno, Berlin and Venice Film Festivals - as President of the International Jury of the 14th Damascus International Film Festival, to be held from November 20 to 27, 2005.
In his acceptance letter, Moritz de Hadeln wrote: “In the difficult international present political situation, I measure even so more the great responsibility you entrust me with as President of your International Jury. As far as I can, I shall do my best to help you and try to contribute to the success of this forthcoming Festival”.

According to festival sources, the other members of the international jury are: Maria Novaro (film director, Mexico), Valeria Sarmiento (film director, Chile), Katerina Didaskalou (actress, Greece), Joachim von Vietinghoff, (producer, Germany), Corinne Cléry (actress, France), Gianfranco Mingozzi, (film director, Italy), Pousy, (actress, Egypt), Monica Van Campen (actress, Spain), Hamadi Gheroum, (film historian, Morocco), Walid Ikhlasi (screen writer) and Jamal Souliman (actor), both from Syria.

Besides the Feature, Short and Documentary Film competitions, the forthcoming Festival comprises around 20 Sections and will screen some 400 films, including a tribute to the film makers Karen Shakhnazarov and Mohammad Chaheen, to the actresses Nabila Obeid (Egypte), Nadine (Libano), Agostina Belli (Italy) and Alexandra Stewart (Canada) not to mention a panorama of Moroccan and Chinese cinemas. The festival program largely reflects the new openness introduced since the election of President Bashar Al-Asad as head of state. The festival takes place bi-annually since 1979. Up to 1999, the festival's competition concentrated exclusively on films from Arab countries, Latin America and Asia but since 2001, the festival has gained a true international focus.