The White Ribbon (German: Das weiße Band) is a 2009 drama film written and directed by the Austrian Michael Haneke. The screenplay focuses on the children in a village in northern Germany just before World War I. According to Haneke, the film is about "the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature."[1]It premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2009 and won the Palme d'Or. This has been followed by positive reviews and several other major awards.