22/09/2014 - The Circle (Der Kreis), by Zurich director Stefan Haupt has been selected to represent Switzerland at the 2015 Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category

The title of the movie selected at the Oscars was made official at the closing ceremony of the Delémont-Hollywood Festival. The Circle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Haupt
film profile] by Stefan Haupt has been awarded an umpteenth prize in the form of support from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and from the city of Delémont for its promotion in Los Angeles.

Although The Circle (Der Kreis) was already awarded at the Berlinale Festival (Teddy Award and Audience Award for Best Documentary), as well as in other prestigious festivals like Boston and Los Angeles, the Oscar nomination definitively marks it as a “coup de coeur” of Swiss cinema. Although I Am The Keeper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sabine Boss
film profile] by Sabine Boss, winner of the Swiss Cinema Award in no less than four categories, was one of the five candidates most likely to win out, it was the moving docu-drama by Stefan Haupt that came out on top in the end.

Through the history of the mythic Swiss gay magazine “Der Kreis”, the movie tells us about a touching story of universal love, between Robi Rapp andErnst Ostertag. Apart from illustrating an extraordinary historic moment in which Switzerland shone for its openness and tolerance, The Circle speaks of the need to be free against all odds by courageously overcoming our inner demons.

The Circle has already been invited to over 70 international festivals and sold in over 15 countries in Europe, America and Asia. Just released in Switzerland, next month the film will also appear in German (23 October) and US cinemas. The Circle is produced by Contrast Film in Zurich and sold abroad by Wide House.

The Oscar nominations will be made official in the middle of January while the ceremony will take place one month later, on 22 February 2015.

(Translated from Italian)