`Circle,' directed by Jafar Panahi, received the Golden Lion and the critics prize in the Venice Film Festival and was screened in Toronto as well as in the Lincoln Center in New York.

It was among the nine Iranian short films produced and nominated by the Young Iranian Cinematographers Organization for screening in Italy's 58th Venice International Film Festival.

It won the top prize of this internationally acknowledged festival, the Golden Lion. The film portrays the miseries of life of Iranian women.

Panahi also received the U.S. film critics' prize for the same film, but returned it in protest at the way he was treated in JFK Airport by U.S. immigration officers while on his way to attend the festival.

"The U.S.-based national film critics' association is proud to award the prize for freedom of expression to you for your audacious masterpiece The Circle...," a letter by the association to Panahi read.

`The Circle,' which has earned Panahi a place as one of the world's most courageous artists, was filmed despite official disapproval in Iran.

It has not been shown publicly in the country but nonetheless won the `Golden Lion' as best film in this year's Venice Film Festival.

The film is Panahi's analysis of the fate that awaits his child characters after they grow up.

It develops to relate the sad stories of the lives of three women--a battered wife, a divorced woman, and an estranged wife.

Over 150 member-critics of FIPRESCI will participate in this year's prize-awarding ceremony which is slated for September 19 coinciding with the inaugural ceremony of the San Sebastian Film Festival. Panahi has been invited to take part in this ceremony.

Panahi received the FIPRESCI prizes in 1995 for his film `White Balloon' and in 1998 for `Mirror.'

Iranian cinema has transformed marvelously in all possible genres since after the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Iranian films are often praised for their vivid and humanitarian approach toward social issues.