🔗 Share this article

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 front pages of Iranian newspapers lament his loss, with dissenting figures and those who reflect nostalgically on the pre-revolution period also offering their respects to Beyzai.

"His passing is a great loss for the cultural heritage of our country," said Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran.

Although Beyzai's later films were banned in the 1980s by the theocratic government, a host of senior figures in the current government have also acknowledged his contribution to Iranian culture.

The Teacher of a Generation

Many of the current crop of Iranian filmmakers have acknowledged their debt to him. Jaafar Panahi noted that Beyzai taught them "how to stand up to 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 countless years sets historical, even mythic figures in conflict with oppressive structures of power.

Roots in Tradition

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

He first rose to prominence as a theater writer, inspired by ancient myths and ceremonies.

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

He gained acclaim as one of the pivotal artists in the groundbreaking movement of Iranian cinema.

An Enduring Voice

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

"Beyzai never opted for the path of least resistance. He endured years of exclusion, imposed silence, and distance, but he never abandoned his language and his convictions," stated Jaafar Panahi 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 find shelter from the Iran-Iraq war.

It was censored in Iran—as were subsequent works he made in that time—but later voted by film critics as the best Iranian film of all time.

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

Final Years in Exile

Beyzai ultimately departed Iran in 2010 and spent his later years in the US, where he taught Persian studies.

Even after he went into exile, his wife, the actress Mozhdeh 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 native land.