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Widespread tributes have been shared for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a colossus of Iranian cinema and theatre, who has died aged 87 while residing in the United States.

Homeland in Mourning

The front pages of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with dissenting figures and those who look back fondly on the pre-revolution period also offering their respects to Beyzai.

"This loss is an immense tragedy for the cultural heritage of our country," said Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran.

Although Beyzai's later films were prohibited in the 1980s by the Islamic regime, a number of senior figures in the present administration have also acknowledged his legacy to Iranian culture.

The Teacher of a Generation

Several of the contemporary generation of Iranian filmmakers have acknowledged their debt to him. Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai showed them "the way to resist oblivion."

Beyzai avoided direct political references in his work, both as a playwright and a film director, and always maintained he tried not to deal in explicit commentary.

But his oeuvre over many decades places archetypal characters in conflict with authoritarian religious and political systems.

A Cultural Foundation

From a family of renowned poets, Beyzai was imbued in the deepest traditions of Persian culture from birth.

He first rose to prominence as a theater writer, drawing on Persian legend and ritual.

A lifelong fan of cinema, he transitioned to filmmaking in the 1970s.

He won renown as one of the pivotal artists in the new wave of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most productive period straddled the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that overthrew him—with both systems ever ready to sniff out hidden messages that could be seen as dissent.

"Beyzai never opted for the path of least resistance. He endured years of exclusion, imposed silence, and exile, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his beliefs," stated the filmmaker in his tribute.

A Masterpiece Amidst Conflict

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many regard as his magnum opus, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a small boy who tries to take refuge from the Iran-Iraq war.

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

The film was screened in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Biennale, winning an award for best film in the heritage category.

Final Years in Exile

Beyzai finally left Iran in 2010 and lived out his final days in the US, where he lectured on Persian studies.

Although he left his homeland, his wife, the actress Shamsai, said just hearing the word "Iran" would still make him emotional—and he continued to hope for a renewed spirit and tomorrow for his homeland.