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Widespread homages are pouring in for Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Iranian cinema and theatre, who passed away aged 87 while residing in the United States.

Homeland in Mourning

The front pages of publications in Iran mourn his loss, with opposition voices and those who look back fondly on the pre-revolution period also paying homage to Beyzai.

"His passing is an immense tragedy for the cultural heritage of our country," said Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran.

Even though Beyzai's later films were banned in the 1980s by the Islamic regime, a number of prominent officials in the current government have also acknowledged his contribution to Iranian culture.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

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

Beyzai avoided overtly political content in his work, both as a dramatist and a cinematic auteur, and always maintained he tried not to deal in explicit commentary.

But his oeuvre over countless years places archetypal characters in conflict with authoritarian religious and political systems.

Roots in Tradition

From a family of celebrated poets, Beyzai was imbued in the richest heritage of Persian culture from birth.

He first rose to prominence as a playwright, inspired by Persian legend and ritual.

A lifelong fan of cinema, he transitioned to filmmaking 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 straddled the time of the Shah and then the Islamic theocratic forces that deposed him—with each regime ever ready to sniff out subtext that could be seen as dissent.

"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 beliefs," stated the filmmaker 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 subsequent works he made in that time—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 Film Festival, winning an award for best film in the classics section.

Final Years in 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 the sound of the word "Iran" would still bring tears to his eyes—and he remained ever hopeful for a renewed spirit and future for his homeland.