Iranian Director Dariush Mehrjui Murdered At Home With His Wife

Fans of the celebrated Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui have woken to the shocking news of his murder at home by an unknown assailant. He was 83.

State media reported Sunday that Mehrjui and his wife Vehideh Mohammadifar were both stabbed to death inside their home in a suburb west of the country’s capital Tehran.

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The IRNA news agency reported that the director’s daughter Mona Mehrjui made the terrible discovery when she went to visit her father’s home on Saturday evening. Both victims were reportedly found with knife wounds in their necks. While the investigation is ongoing, it has emerged that Mohammadifar had complained on social media about a knife threat she had received in recent weeks.

Fans of Mehrjui’s work have been quick to express their sadness on social media and remember his work as a co-founder of Iran’s film new wave in the early 1970s. His second film, The Cow, is considered to be the first film of this movement. Most of his films are inspired by literature and adapted from Iranian and foreign novels and plays.

In 1959, Mehrjui moved to the United States to study at the UCLA’s Department of Cinema. He studied there under Jean Renoir, whom he credited with teaching him how to work with actors. Back in his native Iran, prior to his film career, he started his own literary magazine in 1964, Pars Review.

Mehrjui received many awards throughout his career, including a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival in 1998 and a Golden Seashell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 1993.

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