Zurich to host panel discussion with Iran director Mehrjoui

Panel discussion with noted Iran director Dariush Mehjoui is set to be held at 2017 Iranian Film Festival in Swiss city of Zurich.

This is a special sidebar program at the third edition of the filmfest to be held on June 5, 2017.  

Being instrumental in developing the Iranian cinema, Mehrjoui will attend the discuss panel under the title “Iranian Cinema Past and Present.”

According to the fest website, one of his memorial films in Iranian cinema, ‘Leila’ will be screened at the event slated for June 1-7.

A recent social media post for the festival reads,  "We had the honor to welcome Dariush Mehrjui at the Opening of the Iranian Film Festival in Zurich.
Mr Dodge, the founder of the festival handed Mr Mehrjui the Cyrus Cylinder, the prestigious award created for the IFFZ."

The Iranian Film Festival of Zurich (IFFZ), aims to fill the cultural gap between Iranians and the Swiss as well as the many foreigners living in Switzerland.

Each year the festival presents the Swiss audience a selection of the best contemporary feature films, documentaries and shorts from all generations of Iranian filmmakers in Zurich.

From an early age, Dariush Mehrjoui showed great interest in miniature painting and music, learning to play both santoor and piano. 

When he was 17, Mehrjoui became interested in cinema and started learning English to understand the cinema of the world better and at the age of 20, he moved to the US and enrolled in the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Cinema. 

Eventually, he switched his major to Philosophy and graduated from UCLA in 1964. He then became the chief editor of Pars Review magazine in Los Angeles, one year before he returned to Iran.

Mehrjoui made his directing debut with ‘Diamond 33’ in 1966. His second feature film ‘Cow’ brought him national and international recognition.

AG/AG