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W E E K L Y
December 31, 2014 Vol. 7 No. 100
“The Circle” Photo by Aliocha Merker
“The Circle” (Der Kreis”), is Switzerland’s Official submission for the 87th Academy Awards, and the PSIFF By Jack Lyons Theatre and Film Critic “The Circle” (Der Kreis”), is Switzerland’s Official submission for the 87th Academy Awards, come February 2015. It’s a bold choice when one considers the story that director Stefan Haupt wants to tell. Everyone loves “a love story”, that’s true. Hollywood built a world cinema empire on love stories. But not everyone loves those stories
when it involves two men as a couple. Like many films today the phrase “based on a true story” precedes the film. However in the case of “The Circle” that phrase is accurate. Switzerland was a leader in accepting gays, gay bars and clubs in the 1940’s 50’s. Zurich was the center and “Mother” of all European homosexual organizations at the zenith of the movement in Europe.
In 1948 the KREIS (a selfhelp organization for gays) published a gay magazine, and produced an annual Gay Ball that attracted more than 800 gays to Zurich from all over Europe. Most European countries, and the UK had laws on their books making any homosexual act a crime and subject arrest and jail. Gay emancipation and legal recognition was way off in the future.
Air Asia Plane Found
Air Asia plane wreckage found, bodies being recovered By Desert Star Staff Over 40 bodies have been recovered from the missing Air Asia flight, the Indonesian Navy said. Objects resembling parts of the plane, as well as what was thought to be the plane’s outline underwater, were seen in the search area. “There was a man swaying on the waves. After I looked at the photo carefully on my laptop, I understood it was a human body,” a lieutenant of the Indonesian Air Force told local media. The bodies so far found have been brought to an Indonesian
Navy ship, National Search and Rescue Director Supriyadi told. The corpses were swollen, but intact, and did not have life jackets on, he said, as cited by AP. Several family members of missing passengers burst into tears or fainted when they saw footage of bodies floating in the water. It comes after objects that resemble an emergency slide, plane door, and squares box-like item have been spotted 10km from the last position of the missing Air Asia jet, according to Indonesian authorities.
“We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-colored objects which we could not photograph,” Indonesian Air Force official Agus Dwi Putranto said at a press conference. An AFP photographer from the same search flight said he had observed objects in the sea resembling a life raft, life jackets and long orange tubes. Indonesian officials have expressed concern over the currents in the sea, saying if bad Continues on Page 6
In Zurich, however, they could gather, be themselves and not fear being arrested. However, in 1960, laws were changed and amended removing their protection. The social stigma returned, and gays became once again, “in the closet”. The movie set against the backdrop of Zurich’s closeted gay community,is sensitively directed and focuses on the real life story of Ernst Ostertag,
a school teacher played by Matthias Hungerbuhler, and Robi Rapp, a drag queen entertainer portrayed by Sven Schelker who enter a life-long relationship. The film intersperses a scripted narrative text with documentary interviews with the real Ostertag and Rapp. The film, simply stated, is a compelling and poignant love Continues on Page 7