He was the first widely acclaimed Croatian director. His success is attributable to a combination of factors. Among them are his genetic origin, (he was the son of famous writer, critic and doctor of law, Mate Hanžeković), his education, (Fedor studied English literature and art history at the University of Philosophy in Zagreb, in addition to art history at Exeter College in England), and his political dexterity, (after WW II, he directed many politically “acceptable” documentaries, such as Stepinac pred narodnim sudom from 1947). Finally, he owed much of his success to the fact that he was the first director who systematically adapted literary works, thematically connected by young heroes who sacrificed personal happiness for material possessions, to film. His opus of feature films consists of three titles, among which his debut film Svoga tela gospodar(1957), a harsh comedy about rural life, based on a short story by Slavko Kolar, stands out. For many years, he was the chief editor of the film magazine Filmska kultura; with Stevo Ostojić he edited the book Knjiga o filmu (1979), selection of articles from Filmska kultura.

In Pula in 1954, he won the second place award from the audience for his direction of the film Stojan Mutikaša. In Pula in 1957, he won the Yugoslav film critics’ diploma for his film Svoga tela gospodar.