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Widespread tributes are pouring in for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Persian film and stage, who has died aged 87 while residing in the United States.

Homeland in Mourning

The front pages of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with opposition voices and those who look back fondly on the Shah era also paying homage to Beyzai.

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

Although Beyzai's later films were banned in the 1980s by the theocratic government, a host of senior figures in the current government have also paid tribute his contribution to Iranian culture.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

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

Beyzai steered clear of overtly political content in his work, both as a playwright and a film director, and always maintained he tried not to deal in overt messages.

But his oeuvre over many decades sets historical, even mythic figures in opposition with authoritarian structures of power.

Roots in Tradition

From a family of renowned poets, Beyzai was steeped in the richest heritage of Iranian artistry from birth.

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

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

He gained acclaim 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 constantly poised to detect hidden messages that could be seen as dissent.

"Beyzai never opted for the easy way. He endured years of marginalization, enforced quiet, and exile, but he did not give up his language and his beliefs," stated the filmmaker in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many consider his masterpiece, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a young child who tries to take refuge from the Iran-Iraq war.

It was banned in Iran—as were subsequent works he made in that period—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 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 Shamsai, said just hearing the word "Iran" would still make him emotional—and he continued to hope for a renewed spirit and future for his native land.