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Widespread homages are pouring in for Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Persian film and stage, who has died aged 87 in the US.

A Nation Mourns

The headlines of Iranian newspapers lament his loss, with opposition voices and those who reflect nostalgically on the pre-revolution period also paying homage to Beyzai.

"This loss is an immense tragedy for the art and culture of our country," said the exiled prince, son of the last Shah of Iran.

Even though Beyzai's later films were banned in the 1980s by the Islamic regime, a host of senior figures in the present administration have also acknowledged his contribution to Iranian culture.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

Many of the contemporary generation of Persian directors have acknowledged their debt to him. Jaafar Panahi noted that Beyzai taught them "the way to resist oblivion."

Beyzai avoided overtly political content in his work, both as a playwright and a film director, and always said he tried not to deal in overt messages.

But his work over countless years sets archetypal characters in conflict with authoritarian religious and political systems.

A Cultural Foundation

Hailing from a lineage of renowned poets, Beyzai was imbued 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 devotee of cinema, he moved into making films in the 1970s.

He won renown as one of the key figures in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

Navigating Censorship

His most productive period spanned the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that deposed him—with each regime constantly poised to sniff out subtext that could be seen as criticism.

"Beyzai did not choose the easy way. He withstood years of exclusion, imposed silence, and exile, but he never abandoned his language and his beliefs," said Jaafar Panahi in his tribute.

The Little Stranger

A few years after the 1979 Revolution, he produced what many consider his magnum opus, Bashu, the Little Stranger, about a young child who tries to take refuge from the Iran-Iraq war.

It was banned 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 shown in a restored version at this year's Venice Film Festival, winning an award for outstanding feature in the classics section.

Final Years in Exile

Beyzai finally left Iran in 2010 and spent his later years in the US, where he lectured on Persian studies.

Although he left his homeland, his wife, the actress Mozhdeh Shamsai, said just hearing the word "Iran" would still make him emotional—and he continued to hope for a new culture and tomorrow for his homeland.