Dariush Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were found murdered on 14 October 2023, in their villa in Karaj. The report was confirmed by Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour, the head of the Cinema House Board, as well as by one of the filmmakers present at the scene of the incident.

The incident took place in Meshkin Dasht, Karaj, and Dariush Mehrjui’s daughter reported the incident to the police. Official investigations regarding the perpetrators and motives of these murders have not been publicly disclosed, and further details are not available. The motive for Dariush Mehrjui’s murder has not been announced by the Alborz Province police thus far.

Mehrjui was a member of the Iranian Academy of the Arts. He was a founding member of the Iranian New Wave movement of the early 1970s. His second film, The Cow, is considered to be the first film of this movement, which also included Masoud Kimiai and Nasser Taqvai. 

Most of his films are inspired by literature and adapted from Iranian and foreign novels and plays.

His last film, titled Laminor was added to his body of work in 2019.

Mehrjui has received 49 national and international awards including Golden Seashell from San Sebastián International Film Festival in 1993, Silver Hugo from Chicago International Film Festival in 1998, Crystal Simorgh of the Fajr Film Festival in 2004, Won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the 1st Diorama International Film Festival & Market in 2019.

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