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Profound tributes are pouring in for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Persian film and stage, who has died at the age of 87 in the US.

Homeland in Mourning

The headlines of Iranian newspapers lament his loss, with dissenting figures and those who look back fondly on the Shah era also offering their respects 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 prohibited in the 1980s by the Islamic regime, a number of prominent officials in the present administration have also paid tribute his legacy to Iranian culture.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

Several of the contemporary generation of Persian directors have acknowledged their debt to him. Award-winning director Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai showed them "the way to resist oblivion."

Beyzai steered clear of overtly political content 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 countless years sets historical, even mythic figures in conflict with authoritarian religious and political systems.

Roots in Tradition

Hailing from a lineage of renowned poets, Beyzai was steeped in the deepest traditions 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 won renown as one of the pivotal artists in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most productive period straddled the time of the Shah and then the Islamic theocratic forces that deposed him—with each regime constantly poised to sniff out subtext that could be interpreted as dissent.

"Beyzai did not choose the path of least resistance. He withstood years of exclusion, imposed silence, and exile, but he never abandoned his artistic voice and his beliefs," stated the filmmaker in his tribute.

A Masterpiece Amidst Conflict

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many consider his masterpiece, 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 greatest Iranian film of all time.

The film was shown in a restored version at this year's Venice Film Festival, winning an award for best film in the classics section.

A Hopeful Exile

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

Although 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 native land.