AUSTRIA: Director Michael Haneke wins Cannes Palme d'Or for 'The White Ribbon'

. PETALING JAYA, Malaysia / The Sun Daily / May 26, 2009 The chilling village drama set before W W I by Austrian director Michael Haneke grabs the Cannes’ Palme d’Or By Andrew McCathie AUSTRIAN director Michael Haneke on Sunday won the Cannes Film Festival’s ­coveted Palme d’Or for best film for his movie Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon), a chilling story about rural Germany in the buildup to World War I, beating 19 others for the prize. But even in the tight race for the festival’s iconic Palme d’Or, the 67-year-old Haneke had already emerged as a favourite for the award for his austere black-and-white film, especially after missing out on Cannes’ top prize in 2005 for his thriller Hidden. Accepting the award, Haneke said he believed that happiness is a rare thing, “but now I can say, this is a moment in my life when I am really happy”. Austrian director Michael Haneke poses with the Palme d’Or award for the film Das Weisse Band (White Ribbon), at the awards ceremony during the 62nd International film festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan) The story of his film is based around a series of sinister and violent acts in the small north German Protestant village and eerily point to the rise of European fascism between the two world wars. At a gala ceremony in the French Riviera resort, the Cannes festival jury headed up by French actress Isabelle Huppert awarded the festival’s second prize, the Grand Prix to French director Jacques Audiard for his movie Un Prophete (A Prophet), a gripping account of the brutal prison education handed out to a young French Arab. Copyright© 2009 Sun Media Corporation Sdn.