By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Ariel Sharon was the epitome of evil for Israeli filmmaker Dror Moreh but he turned into an unabashed admirer while making a documentary about the hawkish former Israeli leader.

Moreh presented his sympathetic portrayal of the comatose Sharon at the Berlin Film Festival, a documentary that examines why he unilaterally decided to end Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Sharon unexpectedly ordered the evacuation of 8,500 settlers from the Gaza strip and four settlements in the West Bank, a policy called "disengagement".

Moreh said that the unexpected about-face by the former Israeli general was a pivotal moment and could have been the catalyst for peace with the Palestinians. But Moreh, and others in his film, are full of lament that Sharon had fallen into a coma in early 2006.

"Sharon was a symbol of horror for me and not at all likeable," Moreh said after "Sharon" made its well-received international premiere. It is one of six Israeli films in the Berlin festival, a tacit tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.

"I thought of him as a ruthless and brutal person, a symbol of war and evil," added Moreh, who spent six years on the film.

"But something changed. I discovered a different person making this film than the person we were fed in the media. He was the only leader strong enough to do something to bring a better future to the region."

Sharon, a former army general who led his troops in battles with Israel's Arab neighbours, alienated many of his supporters on the right with the "disengagement". He was accused of betraying his previous support of the settlements.

Israel's pullout from Gaza was a massive psychological blow to supporters of a policy of settling Jews on lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians want for a state of their own.

Sharon had earlier drawn Arab enmity for masterminding the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, during which allied Christian militiamen massacred Palestinians in two refugee camps, and later for crushing a Palestinian uprising that erupted after he visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Arab East Jerusalem, a site also revered by Jews, in 2000.

"Regrettably, there are no leaders strong enough now to do what's needed," Moreh said. "Throughout the Mideast there are only weak leaders now the public won't follow. Everyone knows what's needed for peace but no one will manage to do it." (To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/ )

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