Der Kreis (The Circle), showing in the IFI now, chronicles the rise and fall of ‘50s gay Swiss publication, Der Kreis, and the social network that sprang up in its wake.

Part period drama, part documentary, Der Kreis explores the titular Zurich gay club and magazine, founded in 1942 by actor Karl Meier, through the relationship of two men, Ernst Ostertag and Roebi Rapp (both appear as talking heads), who met at a Der Kreis event in the 1950s.

Der Kreis recreates, through dramatic re-enactments, the difficult circumstances existing for gays at the time while delicately chronicling the men’s blossoming romance. The banalities of ordinary romance (like arguments over how long it took Osterag to introduce Rapp to his parents) mingle with exceptional hurdles (the unwanted attention received by Der Kreis members after a series of rent-boy murders) to create a fascinating picture of a by-gone era of LGB history.

DER KREIS is showing in the Irish Film Institute from December 12.

Book tickets online now – visit IFI online.