Germany taps Haneke's White Ribbon for Oscar bid

German officials have tapped Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon as the country's official candidate for the foreign-language film Oscar, vexing Austrian counterparts who had also been considering the Palme d'Or-winning morality tale as its nomination.

Born in Germany, Haneke was raised in Austria. He has worked in both countries and, for the past decade, haslargely created films inFrench.

His films are often co-produced by firms in different countries: The White Ribbon, for instance, has French, Austrian, German and Italian producers.

Haneke's drama, set in Germany in the years leading up to the First World War, explores how a series of disturbing events unsettles life in a rural Protestant village.

The stark, black-and-white movie impressed the German Films Jury with "its narrative and esthetic quality, as well as its extraordinary characterization of a village community in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century," according to German news agency Deutsche Welle.

However, Austrian officials criticized the move.

"In my opinion, the film can only be submitted by Austria," Martin Schweighofer, director of the Austrian Film Commission, told APA news agencyThursday.

Austrian officials apparently had The White Ribbon on its list of films in consideration for submission to Academy Awards organizers, but they have not yet gathered to make the final decision.

Films from both countries have regularly been nominated in the Oscars'foreign-language film category in recent years, with Germany's The Lives of Others taking the title in 2006 and Austria's The Counterfeiters winning in 2007.

The U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the best foreign-language film nominees for 2010 on Feb. 2. The 82nd Academy Awards follow on March 7.