New York, November 12 2014--A reception was held this morning for award-winning film The Circle, directed by Stefan Haupt, at the Swiss Consulate. The film, a blend of documentary and re-enactment, is about the lives of Ernst Ostertag (Matthias Hungerbühler), a teacher, and Robi Rapp (Sven Schelker), a cabaret dancer and female impersonator, and their fight for gay rights in Switzerland throughout decades of repression. Ostertag met Rapp in the mid-fifties when he joined the then secret gay organization DER KREIS (The Circle). By the age of 73, in 2003--the year the film was made-- they were to become the first gay couple to form a civil union in Switzerland. The Circle is Switzerland's nomination for the Oscar Foreign Film category, and opens theatrically in New York on November 21. Photos: Liza Béar
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| Robi Rapp, cabaret dancer ; female impersonator, The Circle |
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| Ernst Ostertag, teacher, The Circle |
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| Stefan Haupt, director, The Circle |
