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Widespread homages have been shared for Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Iranian cinema and theatre, who has died at the age of 87 while residing in the United States.

A Nation Mourns

The front pages of publications in Iran lament his loss, with opposition voices and those who reflect nostalgically on the Shah era also offering their respects to Beyzai.

"His passing is a great loss for the art and culture of our country," said the exiled prince, son of the last Shah of Iran.

Although Beyzai's subsequent works were banned in the 1980s by the Islamic regime, a host of prominent officials in the current government have also paid tribute his contribution to Persian arts.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

Many of the current crop of Iranian filmmakers have acknowledged their debt to him. Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai showed them "how to stand up to oblivion."

Beyzai avoided direct political references in his work, both as a dramatist and a cinematic auteur, and always said he tried not to trade in explicit commentary.

But his work over many decades sets archetypal characters in conflict with oppressive religious and political systems.

A Cultural Foundation

Hailing from a lineage of celebrated poets, Beyzai was steeped in the deepest traditions of Persian culture from birth.

He first found fame as a theater writer, drawing on Persian legend and ritual.

A devotee of cinema, he moved into making films in the 1970s.

He won renown as one of the pivotal artists in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most productive period straddled the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that overthrew him—with each regime constantly poised to detect subtext that could be interpreted as criticism.

"Beyzai did not choose the easy way. He withstood years of marginalization, enforced quiet, and distance, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his convictions," stated the filmmaker in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many regard as his magnum opus, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a young child who tries to find shelter from the Iran-Iraq war.

It was banned in Iran—as were subsequent works he made in that period—but later chosen by film critics as the greatest Iranian film of all time.

The film was screened in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Film Festival, receiving an award for best film in the classics section.

A Hopeful Exile

Beyzai finally left Iran in 2010 and spent his later years in the US, where he lectured on Iranian culture.

Even after he went into exile, his wife, the actress Mozhdeh Shamsai, said just hearing the word "Iran" would still bring tears to his eyes—and he continued to hope for a renewed spirit and future for his homeland.