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Profound homages have been shared for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Persian film and stage, who passed away at the age of 87 in the US.

Homeland in Mourning

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

"His passing is an immense tragedy for the art and culture of our country," said Prince Reza Pahlavi, 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 number of senior figures in the current government have also acknowledged his contribution to Persian arts.

The Teacher of a Generation

Many of the current crop of Iranian filmmakers have acknowledged their debt to him. Award-winning director Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai showed 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 deal in overt messages.

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

Roots in Tradition

From a family of celebrated poets, Beyzai was imbued in the deepest traditions of Iranian artistry from birth.

He first rose to prominence as a playwright, drawing on ancient myths and ceremonies.

A lifelong fan of cinema, he transitioned to filmmaking in the 1970s.

He gained acclaim as one of the key figures in the groundbreaking movement of Persian film.

Navigating Censorship

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

"Beyzai did not choose the easy way. He withstood years of exclusion, imposed silence, and exile, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his beliefs," said the filmmaker in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

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

The film was shown in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Film Festival, winning an award for best film in the heritage category.

A Hopeful Exile

Beyzai finally left Iran in 2010 and spent his later years in the US, where he lectured on 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 continued to hope for a new culture and future for his homeland.