The Circuit

Alissa Simon reports from this year's difficult Fajr festival in Tehran, where "The Song of Sparrows" screened after its Berlin bow. 

While two Iranian films won Teddys at the Berlinale, prominent Iranian filmmakers don't find their country's festival useful anymore:

Most Iranian producers of commercial product did not enter their films, finding Fajr of little value to them. Tahmineh Milani, whose “Ceasefire” was the biggest box office hit of 2006, found her latest, “Pay Back,” banned at the last moment.

Directors with a world rep such as Abbas Kiarostami, much of whose funding may come internationally, now have international sales agents and can afford to sidestep Fajr entirely.

Further, Ali Jaafar says the problem is the screen is shrinking:

Officials at Iran's ministry of culture are encouraging the country's filmmakers and technicians to move away from the bigscreen and plough their trade in TV with offers of increased salaries and promises of greater artistic freedoms, according to sources in the country.