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Widespread tributes have been shared for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a colossus of Iranian cinema and theatre, who passed away at the age of 87 while residing in the United States.

A Nation Mourns

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

"His passing 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 subsequent works were prohibited in the 1980s by the theocratic government, a number of senior figures in the current government have also paid tribute his contribution to Iranian culture.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

Many of the contemporary generation of Persian directors have expressed their gratitude 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 cinematic auteur, and always said he tried not to deal in overt messages.

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

A Cultural Foundation

From a family of celebrated poets, Beyzai was steeped in the deepest traditions 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 pivotal artists in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most fruitful era 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 interpreted as criticism.

"Beyzai never opted for the path of least resistance. He withstood years of exclusion, enforced quiet, and exile, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his beliefs," stated Jaafar Panahi in his tribute.

A Masterpiece Amidst Conflict

A few years after the 1979 Revolution, he produced what many consider 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 period—but later voted by 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 best film in the classics section.

Final Years in Exile

Beyzai ultimately departed Iran in 2010 and lived out his final days in the US, where he taught Iranian culture.

Although he left his homeland, his wife, the actress Mozhdeh Shamsai, said just the sound of the word "Iran" would still make him emotional—and he remained ever hopeful for a new culture and tomorrow for his homeland.