Nadir Sarıbacak

Nadir Sarıbacak — Biography

A stage background and an understated screen style mark the work of Turkish actor Nadir Sarıbacak. Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep, in which he plays the teacher Levent, and Sarmaşık (Ivy) brought him to a wide audience. He now lives in the United States and turned to directing in 2025 with Gazelle.

He studied Turkish language teaching at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University and worked as a teacher before moving into acting. He performed with Avcılar Municipal Theatre, finished the theatre programme at Akademi İstanbul and took a master's in advanced acting at Bahçeşehir University, then appeared in many Semaver Kumpanya productions and in Yeraltından Notlar. His screen breakthrough was Musa in Uzak İhtimal (Wrong Rosary), which earned him best actor awards at Tofifest and the Silk Road Film Festival. He followed it with Kosmos, Kamil in Yozgat Blues (a best supporting actor award from the Turkish Film Critics Association) and Kış Uykusu. He also appeared in the series Gönülçelen, Beş Kardeş and Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem.

In 2015 he won best actor at the Golden Orange for Sarmaşık; his acceptance speech was cut off on air and drew controversy. Gazelle, a drama about exile and displacement, screened at the Vancouver and Chicago festivals.