Set against the stunning landscape of rural Iran, Shirak is a symbolic rural drama centered on a young boy who lives in a small agricultural village that is being terrorized by wild boars. When his father is mauled to death by the boars during an attack on one of the village fields, Shirak suddenly finds himself the head of the household. Determined to hunt down the dangerous animals and kill them, he picks dates in order to be able to purchase a watchdog from one of the local villagers. Together, Shirak and his dog confront the beasts when they attack the village. While filming Shirak in 1988, his eleventh film, Mehrjui observed, "I can remark that this film is different from my other works. Maybe it’s because I've used epic for the first time to describe the story. The major reason for my attraction to story was its difference. Another attractive point of the story was the growth of the youth and the way you can show the process of growth in a teenager by putting thoughts and actions together into one. It's the never-ending process of a human being in search of himself and his personality, and that's the reason he has to go through a particular route." Awards/Festivals: Jury Special Award to Mehdi Asadi, the child actor of Shirak in the 6th Fajr Intermational Film Festival 1988, Golden Apricot International Film Festival (Retrospective).