Hajir Darioush

Hajir Darioush(1938-1995) was an Iranian film maker. He married Goli Taraghi a Persian novelist. His first film "Holy Arena", in 1963, was a documentary about the traditional Persian gymnasium.His second film "Serpent's Skin", made in 1964 was based on D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" featuring Fakhri Khorvash and Jamshid Mashayekhi. It is believed that he started the New Wave of Iranian cinema with this film. He then returned to making two important early social documentaries "But Problems Arose" in 1965, dealing with the cultural alienation of the Iranian youth, and "Face 75" a critical look at the westernization of the rural culture. Finally he made his first and last commercially successful film, "Bita" in 1972, about a young woman's struggle to come to terms with social barriers facing her, starring Googoosh.

Darioush was the president of the First International Film Festival of Iran.