News: Swiss film "The Circle" starts US theatrical run this November

"The Circle", Switzerland's official entry to the Oscars this year started its US theatrical November 14 in Palm Springs and will have a steady roll-out through 2015.

Screening schedules:

Nov 14-20: Palm Springs (Camelot Theatres)
Nov 21-27: New York City (The Quad)
Dec 5-7: Wilmington, DE (Theatre N)
Dec 5-7: New Orleans (Zeitgeist)
Dec 12-18: Fort Lauderdale (Cinema Paradiso)
Dec 12-18: Miami (Tower Theater)
Dec 14: Philadelphia (Philamoca)
Dec 18-24: Los Angeles (Laemmle Music Hall 3)

Jan 2015
Santa Fe (CCA Santa Fe)
Hudson, NY (Time & Space Limited)

The movie is set in 1958 Zurich and based on the true story of a bashful teacher Ernst Ostertag and a German cabaret artist Robi Rapp who met and fell in love after meeting and knowing one another in the Swiss underground organization called “Der Kreis.” (The Circle). As the two dissimilar men defend their love, they witness the heyday and decline of this Europe-wide pioneering organization for gay emancipation.

Founded in the early 1940s, the network around the magazine ‘Der Kreis’ (’The Circle’) was the only gay organisation to survive the Nazi regime. It blossomed during the post-war years into an internationally renowned underground club. Legendary masked balls at the Theater am Neumarkt in Zurich provided 800 visitors from all over Europe with a secret and safe space to act out their ‘otherness’ in a self-determined way. It is there that timid teacher Ernst Ostertag falls in love with drag star Röbi Rapp. Ernst searches for a way to fight for his gayness to be accepted as normal outside the boundaries of ‘The Circle’ network without losing his employment as a teacher. Röbi champions the joint fruition of their love. Following a murder in the gay community, violent repression against gay people also endangers ‘The Circle’ network.

Stefan Haupt’s new film uncovers the fascinating universe of one of the first gay liberation communities. Enriched by impressive conversational records with Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp, the film depicts a decades-long love story—made taboo by society—and reveals the couple’s inspiring self-knowledge and courage.

Watch the trailer below:



See you at the movies!

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Raymond Lo