The Circle (Der Kreis)

Der Kreis (The Circle) is a Swiss docu-drama revolves around the life-long romantic partnership of two men, Ernst Ostertag and Robi Rapp, who together published a homosexual publication entitled The Circle during the 1940s and 50s in Zurich, Switzerland and which was scapegoated as the cause of the murders of several gay men in the city during that time.

The film has Matthias Hungerbühler and Sven Schelker portray Ostertag and Rapp respectively in the depiction of 1950s Zurich, whilst the film intersperses documentary interviews with the real life pair in the present day. From the outset we encounter Ostertag, a young English literature teacher in an all-girls school, attempting to teach Albert Camus' The Outsider and the idea getting shot down by his superiors. Rapp is a drag artist who meets Ostertag and so begins their life-long union entwined with the publication of the magazine which in a post-Nazi era still rubs people up the wrong way.

The film is tensely directed by Stefan Haupt who also wrote the dramatic screenplay, which has helped garner the official Switzerland entry for Best Foreign Language Film in the 87th Academy Awards next year. Helped by brave and appealing performances from both leads, whilst the present date documentary footage rightly lets the Ostertag/Rapp elders tell their story themselves today.

The Circle is released from on December 12th and is released by Matchbox Films.