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Widespread tributes have been shared for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Iranian cinema and theatre, who passed away aged 87 in the US.

Homeland in Mourning

The headlines of publications in Iran mourn his loss, with opposition voices and those who reflect nostalgically on the pre-revolution period also paying homage to Beyzai.

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

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

A Mentor to Filmmakers

Several of the contemporary generation of Persian directors have acknowledged their debt to him. Award-winning director Jaafar Panahi noted that Beyzai showed them "the way to resist oblivion."

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

But his oeuvre over many decades sets historical, even mythic figures in conflict with authoritarian religious and political systems.

Roots in Tradition

From a family of renowned poets, Beyzai was imbued in the richest heritage of Iranian artistry 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 pivotal artists in the groundbreaking movement of Persian film.

Navigating Censorship

His most fruitful era straddled the time of the Shah and then the Islamic theocratic forces that overthrew him—with each regime ever ready to sniff out hidden messages that could be seen as criticism.

"Beyzai never opted for the path of least resistance. He withstood years of exclusion, enforced quiet, and exile, but he never abandoned his language and his convictions," said 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 find shelter 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 best Iranian film of all time.

The film was screened in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Biennale, receiving an award for outstanding feature 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 Iranian culture.

Even after he left his homeland, his wife, the actress Shamsai, said just the sound of the word "Iran" would still bring tears to his eyes—and he continued to hope for a new culture and future for his native land.