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Widespread tributes have been shared for Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Persian film and stage, who has died aged 87 in the US.

Homeland in Mourning

The headlines of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with dissenting figures and those who reflect nostalgically on the Shah era also paying homage to Beyzai.

"This loss is an immense tragedy for the art and culture of our country," said Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran.

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

The Teacher of a Generation

Many of the contemporary generation of Iranian filmmakers have expressed their gratitude to him. Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai taught them "the way to resist oblivion."

Beyzai avoided overtly political content in his work, both as a playwright and a cinematic auteur, and always maintained he tried not to deal in overt messages.

But his work over countless years sets archetypal characters in conflict with oppressive structures of power.

A Cultural Foundation

Hailing from a lineage 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 ancient myths and ceremonies.

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

He won renown as one of the key figures in the new wave of Persian film.

Navigating Censorship

His most fruitful era spanned the time of the Shah and then the Islamic theocratic forces that overthrew him—with each regime ever ready to detect subtext that could be interpreted as dissent.

"Beyzai never opted for the easy way. He withstood years of exclusion, imposed silence, and distance, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his beliefs," stated the filmmaker in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

A few years after the 1979 Revolution, he produced what many regard as his magnum opus, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a young child who tries to take refuge from the devastating conflict.

It was censored in Iran—as were subsequent works he made in that period—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 Biennale, winning an award for outstanding feature in the classics section.

Final Years in Exile

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

Even after he went into exile, his wife, the actress Shamsai, said just the sound of the word "Iran" would still make him emotional—and he continued to hope for a new culture and future for his homeland.