Sanjeev Singh, Director of Acquisition and Distribution of Videovision Entertainment announced today that the company acquired the multi award-winning film, The White Ribbon. The film is a powerful drama written and directed by the multiple award winning Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke.
The White Ribbon was nominated for two Academy Awards this year – Best Foreign Language Film and Best Achievement in Cinematography. It has also won many awards, including the 2009 Golden Palm Award of the Cannes Film Festival; The Chicago Film Critics Association‘s Best Foreign Language Film Award; Best Director, Best Film and Best Screenplay at the European Film Awards; Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film; the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography; the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography; the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography; the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Film Not In The English Language; Film of the Year at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film and has been nominated for 14 other awards.
The setting of The White Ribbon is the fictitious Protestant village of Eichwald, Germany between July 1913 and August 1914. Here the pastor, the doctor and the baron rule the roost over women, children and peasant farmers. The puritanical pastor gives confirmation classes and causes his pubescent children a guilty conscience over trivial offenses. He makes them wear white ribbons to remind them of the innocence and purity from which they have strayed.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sanjeev Singh said, “We are thrilled to have acquired the South African rights toThe White Ribbon ahead of the Academy Awards on Sunday, 7 March. Michael Haneke is an extremely talented filmmaker who has won numerous awards over the years, and we believe that The White Ribbon is his best film to date. Hopefully, the Academy agrees with me and honours him with an award on Sunday. We have invited Michael Haneke to South Africa and, based on his availability, we will schedule the release of the film later this year.”
