🔗 Share this article Persian Film Titan, Beyzai, Passes Away Aged 87 Bahram Beyzai (left) with his wife, actress Mozhdeh Shamsai Widespread tributes are pouring in for Bahram Beyzai, a colossus of Persian film and stage, who passed away aged 87 while residing in the United States. Homeland in Mourning The front pages of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with opposition voices and those who look back fondly on the pre-revolution period also offering their respects to Beyzai. "His passing is an immense tragedy for the cultural heritage of our country," remarked Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran. Although Beyzai's later films were banned in the 1980s by the theocratic government, a number of prominent officials in the present administration have also paid tribute his legacy to Iranian culture. A Mentor to Filmmakers Many of the current crop of Iranian filmmakers have expressed their gratitude to him. 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 trade in explicit commentary. But his oeuvre over many decades sets archetypal characters in conflict with oppressive structures of power. Roots in Tradition Hailing from a lineage of celebrated poets, Beyzai was steeped in the deepest traditions of Iranian artistry from birth. He first rose to prominence as a playwright, drawing on Persian legend and ritual. A devotee of cinema, he moved into making films in the 1970s. He won renown as one of the pivotal artists in the groundbreaking movement of Persian film. An Enduring Voice His most productive period spanned the time of the Shah and then the Islamic theocratic forces that deposed him—with each regime ever ready to detect subtext that could be interpreted as criticism. "Beyzai never opted for the easy way. He withstood years of exclusion, enforced quiet, and exile, but he did not give up his language and his convictions," stated the filmmaker in his tribute. The Little Stranger 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 take refuge from the Iran-Iraq war. It was censored in Iran—as were other films he made in that time—but later chosen by film critics as the greatest Iranian film of all time. The film was screened in a restored version at this year's Venice Biennale, 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 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 continued to hope for a renewed spirit and future for his homeland.