Profound tributes have been shared for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a colossus of Persian film and stage, who passed away at the age of 87 in the US.
The front pages of publications in Iran 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 a great loss for the cultural heritage of our country," said the exiled prince, son of the last Shah of Iran.
Even though Beyzai's subsequent works were banned in the 1980s by the Islamic regime, a number of senior figures in the current government have also acknowledged his contribution to Persian arts.
Several of the contemporary generation of Iranian filmmakers have expressed their gratitude to him. Award-winning director Jaafar Panahi said that Beyzai showed them "how to stand up to oblivion."
Beyzai steered clear of 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 work over many decades places archetypal characters in opposition with authoritarian structures of power.
From a family of celebrated poets, Beyzai was steeped in the deepest traditions of Iranian artistry from birth.
He first found fame as a theater writer, inspired by Persian legend and ritual.
A lifelong fan of cinema, he moved into filmmaking in the 1970s.
He gained acclaim as one of the pivotal artists in the new wave of Iranian cinema.
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 detect hidden messages that could be seen as dissent.
"Beyzai never opted for the easy way. He endured years of exclusion, imposed silence, and exile, but he never abandoned his language and his convictions," said the filmmaker in his tribute.
A few years after the 1979 Revolution, he produced what many regard as his magnum opus, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a young child who tries to take refuge from the devastating conflict.
It was censored in Iran—as were subsequent works he made in that period—but later voted by critics as the best Iranian film of all time.
The film was screened in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Biennale, receiving an award for outstanding feature in the heritage category.
Beyzai ultimately departed Iran in 2010 and lived out his final days in the US, where he lectured on Persian studies.
Even after he left his homeland, 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 new culture and future for his native land.
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