Iranian cinema giant, Bahram Beyzai, dies aged 87

A restored copy of his film, Bashu, the Little Stranger, won an award at this year's Venice Film Festival.

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

Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran, described his passing as "a great loss for the the art and culture of our country".

Although Beyzai's later films were banned in the 1980s by the Islamic regime that toppled the Shah, a number of senior figures in the current government have also paid tribute to his contribution to Iranian culture.

Several of the current crop of Iranian filmmakers have acknowledged their debt to him, with Jaafar Panahi - whose latest film won the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival - saying that he taught them "how to stand up to oblivion".