🔗 Share this article

Profound homages have been shared for Bahram Beyzai, a giant of Iranian cinema and theatre, who passed away aged 87 in the US.

A Nation Mourns

The headlines of Iranian newspapers mourn his loss, with opposition voices and those who look back fondly on the Shah era also paying homage to Beyzai.

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

Even though Beyzai's subsequent works were prohibited 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

Several of the contemporary generation of Persian directors have acknowledged their debt to him. Award-winning director Jaafar Panahi noted that Beyzai showed them "the way to resist oblivion."

Beyzai steered clear of 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 many decades places historical, even mythic figures in opposition with authoritarian religious and political systems.

Roots in Tradition

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

He first found fame as a playwright, inspired by Persian legend and ritual.

A lifelong fan of cinema, he transitioned to filmmaking in the 1970s.

He gained acclaim 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 Islamic theocratic forces that deposed him—with both systems ever ready to detect hidden messages that could be interpreted as criticism.

"Beyzai did not choose the path of least resistance. He withstood years of marginalization, enforced quiet, and exile, but he did not give up his artistic voice and his beliefs," stated Jaafar Panahi in his tribute.

A Masterpiece Amidst Conflict

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

It was banned in Iran—as were subsequent works he made in that time—but later chosen by critics as the greatest Iranian film of all time.

The film was shown in a newly remastered print at this year's Venice Biennale, receiving an award for best film in the classics section.

A Hopeful Exile

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

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