Art and Culture # 113: Assassination of Daruish Mehjuri, Iran’s Prolific Cinematic Filmmaker, and the Attack on Art itself!
On Sunday October 15, 2023, according to the Guardian, “Daruish Mehjuri, and his wife, “was stabbed to death on Saturday evening alongside his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, at their home near Tehran, authorities have said.”[1]Suffering from a slashed neck, the reports from mainstream media itself embodies a real disconnect between the artist and the nation state of Iran. The following are three examples, providing a disconnect, where the artist himself, and the crime committed, almost resembles a jumbled persona.
For those who aren’t aware of Daruish Mehjuri’s legacy, “born in 1939 in Tehran, Mehrjui studied philosophy in the United States before his return to Iran where he launched a literary magazine and released his first film in 1967, Diamond 33, a parody of the James Bond series.”[2]
What makes this a tragedy is that Iranian police themselves aren’t too concerned with giving Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh, “a screenwriter and costume designer,”[3] the benefit of the doubt that they filed a police report. According to the Guardian article, it reports, ““The investigation revealed that no complaints had been filed regarding the illegal entry into the Mehrjui’s family villa and the theft of their belongings”, said Fazeli-Harikandi.” Who is the chief justice of the Alborz, near Tehran, where the filmmaker lived.
But the New York Times, for the first time, gave another viewpoint: the assistant has confirmed that gold has been stolen, too. What this proves is that while this might not be politically motivated, we’re seeing that the artist, himself, becomes secondary after his death. There has been little reporting confirmed by major news nations, except in Europe and the middle east. The American media will never touch or talk against Iran’s horrific government, as it wouldn’t risk being too insensitive to the Iranian government.
Ironically, CBS’s reporting provides one central clue that the first two articles don’t provide. “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.”[4]
While this could be a robbery, the outcome is that all artists, even if they have no political affliation, and to such extent, face an immediate threat by totalitarian governments restricting freedom of speech is the curse that some murders, are not attack against the idea of words, film, books, but the terrible outcome of Iran’s state media that doesn’t respect art or culture. And a media, across Europe to America, all come to differing conclusions. Even Fox News manages to get most of the details right.[5]
Nothing can be more disgusting than the death of a filmmaker or writer by the hands of local extremists, or just the victim of a simple robbery. But nothing is simple, even today. Artists cannot be vanquished by a simple knife.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/16/prominent-iranian-film-maker-dariush-mehrjui-stabbed-to-death-alongside-his-wife. Found 10.19.2023.
[2] See source 1.
[3] Nikounazar, Leily. “Famed Iranian Filmmaker is Killed in his Home” 10.15.2023. New York Times. https://archive.ph/zjquu. Original source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/world/middleeast/dariush-mehrjui-iran-filmmaker-killed.html.
[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dariush-mehrjui-vahideh-mohammadifar-stabbed-to-death-iran/.
[5] https://www.foxnews.com/world/daughter-famed-iranian-film-director-finds-parents-stabbed-death-home.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 21 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline Part 2: Chaos, The Data Chase, The Disintegrating Bloodline part 3: Solvè, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, The God of Curiosity, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One, City of Sand: Book 1: The Holy Terror, and The Voices Are Alive, and The City of Sand: Book 2: Jerusalem Ignited. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouisBr88881650. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His two newest books, The City of Sand: Book 2: Jerusalem Ignited, and The Savior, the Flood, and the Beast: Three Plays are out now: https://www.amazon.com/City-Sand-Book-Jerusalem-Ignited/dp/1365979660/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1G8HAWZP73ZFO&keywords=Louis+Bruno+City+of+Sand+book+2&qid=1675772880&sprefix=louis+bruno+city+of+sand+book+2%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-1. https://www.amazon.com/Savior-Flood-Beast-Three-Plays/dp/1088120997/ref=pd_ybh_a_sccl_4/140-0249150-4265358?pd_rd_w=W5fsa&content-id=amzn1.sym.67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_p=67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_r=2E73RTDRBVPZEY5D77V2&pd_rd_wg=69KGI&pd_rd_r=59d8721c-bf89-4fa7-bd88-7a072004a89f&pd_rd_i=1088120997&psc=1.