Iranian New Wave Director Dariush Mehrjui Killed at Home

Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, a founding father of Iranian cinema, was killed at his home on 14 October 2023 in an unexplained act of violence. His 1969 film The Cow, adapted from Gholam-Hossein Saedi's work, launched the Iranian New Wave, drawing on poetic tradition and existentialist themes. The film won the FIPRESCI prize at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, the first international award for an Iranian film. Despite censorship under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic, Mehrjui continued making films, shifting focus to female protagonists after the 1979 revolution in works like The Lady (1992), Sara (1993), Pari (1995), and Leila (1997). These films launched careers of actresses Leila Hatami, Niki Karimi, and Golshifteh Farahani. Critics like Hamid Dabashi argued Mehrjui's art declined after Saedi's death in 1985, while others noted his post-revolution work did not match The Cow's success. Mehrjui was working on a new production at the time of his death.