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Profound homages have been shared for Bahram Beyzai, a colossus of Persian film and stage, who has died aged 87 while residing in the United States.

Homeland in Mourning

The front pages of publications in Iran mourn his loss, with dissenting figures and those who look back fondly on the pre-revolution period also offering their respects to Beyzai.

"His passing is a great loss for the cultural heritage of our country," remarked Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran.

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

The Teacher of a Generation

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

Beyzai avoided overtly political content in his work, both as a dramatist and a film director, and always maintained he tried not to trade in explicit commentary.

But his work over many decades places archetypal characters in conflict with oppressive religious and political systems.

Roots in Tradition

From a family of celebrated poets, Beyzai was steeped in the deepest traditions 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 gained acclaim as one of the key figures in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

An Enduring Voice

His most fruitful era spanned the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that deposed him—with each regime ever ready to sniff out hidden messages that could be interpreted as criticism.

"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 Jaafar Panahi in his tribute.

A Masterpiece Amidst Conflict

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many regard as his masterpiece, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a young child 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 chosen by critics as the greatest Iranian film of all time.

The film was shown in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Film Festival, receiving an award for outstanding feature in the classics section.

A Hopeful Exile

Beyzai finally left Iran in 2010 and spent his later years in the US, where he taught Persian studies.

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 continued to hope for a renewed spirit and tomorrow for his native land.