Hend Sabry Becomes The First Arab Woman To Join The Judging Panel At Venice Film Festival
“I hope to be a good ambassador for Arab art at the oldest festival in the world, and one of the three most important festivals in the world”
Venice Film Festival, set to kick off on 28 August, has unveiled their line-up for its 76th edition in Rome, and Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabry has been announced as the first-ever Arab women to sit on the judging panel.
“I am proud to be one of the jury members of Venice Film Festival and I also feel proud that veteran directors Emir Kusurica and Antoinette Liowill be the jury presidents,” the Egypt-based actress wrote on her Instagram.
“I also am happy that this announcement coincides with the release of my movie El-Feel-el Azra’a, (The Blue Elephant) Part 2 which achieved huge success across the Arab world. I hope to be a good ambassador for Arab art at the oldest festival in the world, and one of the three most important festivals in the world.”
And this isn’t the only step the festival is taking to start supporting females in the entertainment industry. Women in Film, TV & Media will host a panel at Venice Film Festival on gender equality to discuss the percentage of women and minority filmmakers who applied to the festival this year. The festival has agreed to make numbers public after signing onto the Charter for Parity & Inclusion last year.