Saber Abar

Saber Abar
Born	(1984-06-08) June 8, 1984 Tehran, Iran
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, writer
Years active	2000s–present
Known for	About Elly

Saber Abar (; born June 8, 1984) is a multifaceted Iranian artist recognized for his work as an actor, director, and writer. He gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal in About Elly (2008), a film directed by the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi. Throughout his career, Abar has been honored with two Iran Cinema Celebration Awards and an award from the Iran Film Critics and Writers Association. Additionally, he has received nominations for two Crystal Simorgh awards as well as two Hafez Awards.

Acting

Abar's early career included hosting television programs like Rainbow and In 100 Seconds. His acting breakthrough came with Mohsen Makhmalbaf's film Sha'ere Zobale. He also earned a Crystal Simorgh nomination for Best Supporting Actor due to his role in Minaye Shahr-e Khamush (2006). His role in Dayere Zangi (2007) paved the way for his casting in Farhadi’s critically acclaimed About Elly, where he played the character "Alireza", which garnered him another nomination at the Fajr Festival.

His filmography further includes leading and supporting roles in titles such as Hich (2009), Nokhodi (2009), Thirteen 59 (2010), and Entehaye Khiabane Hashtom (2010). He also made a brief appearance in Ayene-haye Ruberu (2010). On television, Abar stars in the series The Frog.

Theatre

In theatre, Abar has shared the stage with notable actors including Farhad Aeesh, Mehdi Hashemi, and Shahab Hosseini in the play Kargadan (2008). His other theatrical engagements feature performances in Dastan-e yek Pellekan (2009), Caligula (2010), and Jire-bandie pare Khorus baraye Sugvari (2011). Moreover, he directed the stage production of Vav-ha va Virgul-ha in 2010.

Writing

Abar is also an author; he wrote a bilingual book titled To Seven Houses Away, which focuses on Iranian grandmothers from across the country. This book was published by Inja, Middle Of The Town (اینجا میان شهر) based in Tehran. Furthermore, an e-book entitled Saber Abar, The Cost of Playing, authored by Salar Bil, examines some controversies surrounding Saber Abar.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes	Ref(s)
2005	Poet of the Wastes	—	Mohammad Ahmadi	—
2007	Colors of Memory	Iraj Bahrami	Amir Shahab Razavian	—
2008	Tambourine	Mohammad	Parisa Bakhtavar	—
	Three Women	Hamed	Manijeh Hekmat	—	—
2009	About Elly	Alireza	Asghar Farhadi	—
	Lil' Pea	—	Jalal Fatemi	—	—
	Do Not Get a Reward from the President	—	Kamal Tabrizi	—	—
2010	Nothing	Nima	Abdolreza Kahani	—	—
2011	Thirteen 59	—	Saman Salur	—	—
	Here Without Me	Ehsan	Bahram Tavakoli	—	—
	Facing Mirrors	Sadegh	Negar Azarbeyjani	—
	'Mr. Yousef'	'Sirous'	'Ali Rafi'i'	'—'|-	2012	'Kissing the Moon-Like Face'	'—'	'Homayoun As'adian'	'—'
'Modest Reception'	'—'	'Mani Haghighi'	'—'
'The Snow on the Pines'	'—'	'Payman Maadi'	'—'
'At the End of 8th Street'	'Bahram'	'Alireza Amini'	'—'
2013	'Shallow Yellow Sky'	'Mehran'	'Bahram Tavakoli'	'—'
	'Nowhere, Nobody'	'Davood'	'Ebrahim Sheibani'	'—'
	'Acrid'	'Khosrow'	'Kiarash Asadizadeh'
	'Lovely Trash'	'Amir'	'Mohsen Amiryoussefi'
2014	'Sending a Condolences Ad for Newspaper'	'Taha'	'Ebrahim Ebrahimian'
	'Tales'	'Narges's husband'	'Rakhshān Banietemad'
	'Everything for Sale'	'Akbar'	'Amir Hossein Saghafi'
	'Dreamy'	'Houman'	'Fereydoun Jeyrani'
2015	'Closer'	'Ali'	'Mostafa Ahmadi'
	'Crazy Rook'	'Kaveh Najm'	'Abolhassan Davoodi'
	'I Am Diego Maradona'	'The Writer'	'Bahram Tavakoli'
	'Dowry's Sugar Bowl'	'Atta'	'Ali Mollagholipour'
2017	'Villa Dwellers'	'Hamid'	'Monir Gheidi'
	'Searing Summer'	'Farhad'	'Ebrahim Irajzad'
	"Meyami's Millioner"	"Reza"	"Mostafa Ahmadi"
2018	"Pig (2018 film)"	"Himself"	"Mani Haghighi"
	"Hat-trick"	"Keyvan"	"Ramtin Lavafi"
	"Tale of the Sea"	"Amir Dashti"	"Bahman Farmanara"
	"I Want to Dance"	"—"	"Bahman Farmanara"
	"In Between"	"Detective"	"Aliyar Rasti"	"Short film"
2019	"A Hairy Tale"	"Danesh"	"Homayoun Ghanizadeh"
	"Russian"	"Ebrahim"	"Amir Hossein Saghafi"
2021	"Under Low Light"	"—"	"Mohammad Parvizi"
2022	"No Prior Appointment"	"Attorney"	"Behrouz Shoeibi"
	"Without Her"	"Babak"	"Arian Vazirdaftari"
2023	"After Leaving"	"Arash"	"Reza Nejati"
	"Leather Jacket Man"	"Agent"	"Hossein Mirzamohammadi"
	"A Relic of the South"	"Rana's boss"	"Hosein Amiri Domari, Pedram Pour-Amiri"
	"Maria"	"Peyman"	"Mehdi Asghar Azghadi"
2024	"Summer Time"	"Amir"	"Mahmoud Kalari"
	"The Great Yawn of History"	"Malek"	"Aliyar Rasti"
2025	"Turtle"		"Bahman Kamyar"

Web

Year	Title	Character	Director	Platform	Remarks
2020–2021	The Frog	Ramin Fayazi	Houman Seyyedi	Namava	Lead role
2023	The Translator	Mohandes	Bahram Tavakoli	Namava	Principal role
2024	The Loser	Kaveh Badrloo	Amin Hosseinpour	Filimo	Principal role	date=2024-08-17 |title=جایگزین «زخم کاری» مشخص شد/ پیمان قاسم‌خانی در سریال پلیسی |url=https://www.mehrnews.com/news/6198294/%D8%AC%D8%A7%DB%8C%DA%AF%D8%B2%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%B2%D8%AE%D9%85-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%AE%D8%B5-%D8%B4%D8%d... Awards and nominations Year Award Category Film Title Outcome Venue Remarks 2007 Crystal Simorgh Award, 25th Fajr Film Festival Best Supporting Actor Colors of Memory Nominated Tehran, Iran 2007 11th Iran Cinema Celebration Best Supporting Actor Colors of Memory Winner Tehran, Iran 2009 Crystal Simorgh Award, 27th Fajr Film Festival Best Supporting Actor About Elly Nominated Tehran, Iran 2010 14th Iran Cinema Celebration Best Supporting Actor About Elly Winner Tehran, Iran 2010 3rd Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award Best Supporting Actor About Elly Winner Tehran, Iran 2013 6th Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award Best Supporting Actor 'The Snow on the Pines' Nominated Tehran, Iran 2013 6th Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award Best Supporting Actor 'Kissing the Moon-Like Face' Nominated Tehran, Iran 2013 8th Rome Film Festival Best Emerging Actors and Actresses (full cast) 'Acrid' Winner Rome, Italy External links Saber Abar at Iranian Movie Database