Hans Hodel
Minister and religious educator, Honorary President of INTERFILM
Country of origin:
Switzerland
Hans Hodel (*1938) studied Protestant theology in Bern (Switzerland) and served as minister in two different parishes. In 1966, he started to teach classes in a teacher training school in religion, ethics and media, made additional studies in educational science and fulfilled till 1987 a fulltime job at a teacher training school. From 1987-2003 (till his official retirement) he was Film Commissioner of the Swiss Protestant Churches including the responsibility for the non theatrical film and video distribution company ZOOM.
Since 1989 till 2018 he worked as INTERFILM's jury coordinator (since 2003 voluntarily) and was elected INTERFILM President in 2004, retiring from this office in 2013. On this occasion SIGNIS, INTERFILM's partner organisation at numerous festivals, appreciated his merits for ecumenical film activities by an Honorary Award. He was a member of several festival juries and of the jury for the European Templeton Film Award (1997-2006).
He was also member of the Steering Committee of the European Regional Association of the World Association for Christian Communication (ERA-WACC), during this time being committed to accomplish a series of film seminars entitled "Giving a Soul to Europe". In 2013, he was appointed as Honorary Life Member of WACC (see the report on the WACC website). INTERFILM appointed him Honorary President at the General Assembly 2019 in Erlangen.
Articles
At a reception at the Ecumencial Jury festival booth in Cannes Serge Molla was introduced as INTERFILM's new festival delegate. Hans Hodel expressed his thanks for the longtime commitment of his predecessor, Denyse Muller, and presented her Catholic partner, former SIGNIS Europe President Jos Horemans, with an Award of Honor.
In his speech at the Ecumenical Reception on the occasion of the FilmFestival Cottbus on November 6, 2014, Rev. Hans Hodel, INTERFILM's jury coordinator and former president, outlines the church positions towards homosexuality, subject matter of the festival's FOCUS section "queerEast".
The producer and filmmaker Stefan Kaspar died in Bogota. Obituary by Hans Hodel and Bernd Wolpert
In the church of Spiegel-Bern, on October 17, many mourners bode farewell to Dölf Rindlisbacher who died in his 93rd year of age. He was the first film commissioner of the German speaking Protestant churches in Switzerland and will be remembered as a pioneer in the history of Protestant media activities in Switzerland.
At the Berlinale 2010 the INTERFILM Presidium has appointed Robin E. Gurney Honorary Life Member. He was working for several international church organisations, and was member of the INTERFILM Board.