🔗 Share this article

Widespread homages are pouring in for the legendary Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Iranian cinema and theatre, who passed away at the age of 87 in the US.

A Nation Mourns

The headlines of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with dissenting figures and those who reflect nostalgically on the Shah era also paying homage to Beyzai.

"His passing is a great loss for the art and culture of our country," said 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 host of prominent officials in the current government have also paid tribute his legacy to Persian arts.

A Mentor to Filmmakers

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

Beyzai steered clear of overtly political content in his work, both as a playwright and a cinematic auteur, and always maintained he tried not to trade in explicit commentary.

But his work over countless years places archetypal characters 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 theater writer, drawing on Persian legend and ritual.

A lifelong fan of cinema, he transitioned to filmmaking 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 straddled the time of the Shah and then the revolutionary government that overthrew him—with both systems ever ready to detect hidden messages that could be seen as dissent.

"Beyzai did not choose the easy way. He endured years of marginalization, enforced quiet, and distance, but he never abandoned his language and his beliefs," said Jaafar Panahi 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 young child who tries to take refuge from the Iran-Iraq war.

It was censored in Iran—as were other films he made in that period—but later chosen 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 best film in the classics section.

Final Years in Exile

Beyzai ultimately departed Iran in 2010 and lived out his final days in the US, where he lectured on Iranian culture.

Although he left his homeland, his wife, the actress 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.