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

A Nation Mourns

The front pages of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with dissenting figures and those who look back fondly on the Shah era also offering their respects to Beyzai.

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

Even though Beyzai's subsequent works were prohibited in the 1980s by the theocratic government, a host of prominent officials in the current government have also paid tribute his legacy to Persian arts.

The Teacher of a Generation

Many of the current crop of Persian directors have acknowledged their debt to him. 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 playwright and a film director, and always maintained he tried not to trade in overt messages.

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

A Cultural Foundation

Hailing from a lineage of renowned poets, Beyzai was imbued in the deepest traditions of Persian culture from birth.

He first found fame as a playwright, inspired by Persian legend and ritual.

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

He won renown as one of the key figures in the new wave of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most productive period straddled the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that overthrew him—with both systems ever ready to detect hidden messages that could be seen as dissent.

"Beyzai never opted for the path of least resistance. He withstood years of exclusion, enforced quiet, and distance, but he did not give up his language and his convictions," said Jaafar Panahi in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

A few years after the Iranian Revolution, he produced what many regard as 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 subsequent works he made in that period—but later chosen by critics as the greatest Iranian film of all time.

The film was screened in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Biennale, winning an award for outstanding feature in the classics section.

Final Years in Exile

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

Even after he went into exile, his wife, the actress Shamsai, said just hearing the word "Iran" would still bring tears to his eyes—and he remained ever hopeful for a renewed spirit and tomorrow for his homeland.