Iranian filmmaker and IFFK Lifetime Achievement award recipient Dariush Mehrjui killed; wife also found dead

Noted Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui, 83, and his wife Vahideh Mohammadifar were found dead at their residence in Tehran on Saturday night. As per Iranian media, the couple was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. They also had several knife wounds in their necks. The official IRNA news agency quoted Hossein Fazeli, a judiciary official, saying the director's daughter, Mona Mehrjui, found the bodies when she went to visit her father Saturday night at the home in a suburb about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the capital, Tehran.

Dariush was the co-founder of Iran's film new wave in the early 1970s that mainly focused on realism. He was honoured with the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the International Film Festival of Kerala in 2015. He was also the recipient of several awards, including a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival in 1998 and a Golden Seashell at the San Sebastin International Film Festival 1993.

Mehrjui studied in the cinema program at the University of California, Los Angeles in the early 1960s. The media report said authorities were investigating and gave no speculation on a motive, though the wife had complained about a knife threat on social media in recent weeks.
(With PTI inputs)