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Widespread tributes are pouring in for Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Persian film and stage, who passed away at the age of 87 while residing in the United States.

A Nation Mourns

The headlines of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with dissenting figures and those who reflect nostalgically on the pre-revolution period 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.

Even though Beyzai's subsequent works were prohibited in the 1980s by the theocratic government, a number of senior figures in the present administration have also paid tribute his contribution to Persian arts.

The Teacher of a Generation

Several of the current crop of Persian directors have acknowledged their debt to him. Award-winning director Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai taught them "how to stand up to oblivion."

Beyzai avoided direct political references in his work, both as a playwright and a cinematic auteur, and always maintained he tried not to trade in overt messages.

But his work over countless years sets historical, even mythic figures in conflict with oppressive religious and political systems.

Roots in Tradition

Hailing from a lineage of celebrated poets, Beyzai was imbued in the richest heritage of Persian culture from birth.

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

A lifelong fan of cinema, he moved into filmmaking in the 1970s.

He won renown as one of the key figures in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most fruitful era spanned the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that deposed him—with each regime constantly poised to sniff out subtext that could be interpreted as dissent.

"Beyzai did not choose the path of least resistance. He endured years of exclusion, enforced quiet, and exile, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his beliefs," said the filmmaker in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many consider 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 other films he made in that time—but later voted 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 outstanding feature in the heritage category.

Final Years in Exile

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

Although he went into exile, his wife, the actress Shamsai, said just hearing the word "Iran" would still make him emotional—and he continued to hope for a new culture and future for his native land.