The film won the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1978.During this time, Iran was going through great political changes. The events leading up to the Revolution of 1979 were causing a gradual loosening of strict censorship laws, which Mehrjui and other artists had great hopes for.While waiting for The Cycle to be released, Mehrjui worked on several documentaries. Alamut, a documentary on the Isamailis, was commissioned by Persian National Television in 1974.