New Delhi: Dariush Mehrjui, hailed as a pioneer of Iranian cinema’s new wave movement, was stabbed to death in his home Saturday on evening along with his wife, according to authorities.Mehrjui, 83, and his wife Vahideh Mohammadifar, 54, a screenwriter and costume designer, were found dead by their daughter who was visiting the house in Alborz province near Tehran for dinner, according to Hossein Fazeli-Harikandi, chief justice of the province.“During the preliminary investigation, we found that Dariush Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were killed by multiple stab wounds to the neck,” Fazeli-Harikandi said.Police said “no signs of forced entry can be seen at the crime scene,” and “no damage has been done to the doors” of their home. However, they said, “traces have been found” at the scene they believe to be “related to the murderer.”The filmmaker’s wife had earlier complained that she believed her home had been burgled and said she had been threatened in an interview with the Etemad newspaper.Hamid Hadavand, the Alborz police chief, said in an interview with the Iranian student news agency ISNA that a motive for the killings remains unknown.Mehrjui rose to international prominence for his 1969 film The Cow, which depicted a poor farmer’s love for his cow and his grief after the cow’s death. The film helped spur a new movement in Iranian cinema that focused on social realism and politically-driven narratives. After its release, the film was banned for its stark portrayal of rural poverty.He also notably directed Mr. Gullible (1970), The Tenants (1986), Hamoun (1990), Sara (1993), Pari (1995) and Leila (1997).From 1980 to 1985, Mehrjui lived in France where he worked on the 1983 documentary Journey to the Land of Rimbaud.Mehrjui’s awards include a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival in 1998 and a Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival 1993.“I don’t make directly political films to promote a particular ideology or point of view. But everything is political,” Mehrjui once said in an interview.