Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon will feature in the NZ International Film Festival 2009 line-up in Wellington.

A late confirmation to the programme, the film’s participation was not cemented until after the Wellington programme had been printed and distributed.

Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon will feature in the NZ International Film Festival 2009 line-up in Wellington.

A late confirmation to the programme, the film’s participation was not cemented until after the Wellington programme had been printed and distributed.

Winner of the supreme award at Cannes this year the film, directed by Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher, Hidden), has been lauded by critics.

“Delays in negotiation have been enormously frustrating and deprived other centres of the film but we are delighted we can at least make it available to audiences in Wellington,” says Festival Director Bill Gosden.

“Haneke is a director who has displayed a deep fascination with repression and violence in Western society – and a repulsion at the way violence is turned into entertainment. Critics at Cannes welcomed the prize as recognition of the culmination of Haneke’s formidable artistry,” says Gosden.

Set on the eve of World War I in Germany the films tells the story of youth from a church and school choir and their families. Strange events start to take place in the village which appear to be ritual punishment.

Due to the special technical requirements of the film, which is a Digital Cinema Presentation (DCP), the sessions will take place at Reading Cinemas, Courtenay Place in Wellington. The screenings will take place during the final week of the Festival.

The title is yet another coup for the Festival, which has already confirmed Jane Campion’s Bright Star fresh from its Cannes debut along with the controversial Antichrist which divided audiences at its premiere. The Wellington leg of the festival started on Friday 17 July. The Wellington programme is available now online.

Tickets for The White Ribbon will only be available from Reading Cinemas in Wellington and not through Ticketek who manage the main ticketing for the Festival. Filmgoers are encouraged to purchase tickets online directly through the Reading Cinema website.