“The Circle”: Swiss Oscar candidate
Stefan Haupt’s feature film “The Circle” is the Swiss candidate for a nomination as Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.
20.09.2014
“The Circle” has been sold in more than 15 countries in Europe, America and Asia and invited to over 70 international film festivals to date. Apart from the prestigious awards at the Berlinale, the Swiss candidate for an Oscar nomination has been honoured with numerous awards at the film festivals in Boston and Los Angeles, among others. The film has just opened in cinemas in Switzerland (distributor: Ascote Elite). It will run in Germany (Salzgeber) as of October 23 and will be released in the USA (Wolfe) in October as well. “The Circle” was produced by Ivan Madeo and Urs Frey at Contrast Film (Zurich), with world sales by Wide House (Paris).
The film is set in post-war Zurich during the gay rights movement. It is based on the true story of Röbi Rapp (Sven Schelker) and Ernst Ostertag (Matthias Hungerbühler), who meet and fall in love in connection with the trilingual gay magazine “Der Kreis” (The Circle). The film provides insight into the history of Europe’s oldest gay network and impressively portrays its heyday and decline.
SWISS FILMS, the promotion agency, coordinates the Oscar campaign on behalf of the Federal Office of Culture, in close collaboration with the production company Contrast Film in Zurich and the American distributor Wolfe. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood will announce the Oscar nominations in mid-January 2015. The Oscars will be awarded in Los Angeles on February 22, 2015.
SWISS FILMS, September 20, 2014
Photo gallery: International success for “The Circle”
Quotes
A watershed moment in Swiss and European gay history is finally given the feature treatment in “The Circle”.
The Hollywood Reporter, Boyd van Hoeij
The drama’s urgency gives “The Circle” the feel of a bombshell.
Screen International, David D’Arcy
The documentary interludes prevent “The Circle” from playing entirely as a period piece, which makes sense given the still burning political currency of its subject mater…. The testimonials of the elderly lovers are touching.
Variety, Guy Lodge