Tunisian actress Hend Sabry will soon become the first Arab actress to join the jury panel at the 2016 International Film Festival Rotterdam, which will be held between Jan. 27 and Feb. 7.
Sabry will be a member of the expert jury that will judge the festival's Hivos Tiger Awards Competition. The jury will honor the winning films with the Special Jury Award and the festival's top award, the prestigious Hivos Tiger Award.
The award-winning Arab actress will be joined by Dutch film critic Peter van Bueren, Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong, Portuguese director Miguel Gomes and the director of the International Film Festival Vienna, Hans Hurch.
Eight films from around the world will be competing this year for the two prizes, these include The Netherlands' "History's Future", Thailand's "Motel Mist", and Brazil's "Where I Grow Old", as well as American films "A Woman, A Part" and "Radio Dreams."
Sabry recently joined another prominent international film festival's jury panel. The actress judged the IWC Filmmaker Award Competition at the 2015 Dubai International Film Festival last December. She was a member of a jury that was headed by world-renowned Palestinian director Hany Abu Assad.
In addition, she previously served as the honorary president of the first edition of the International Arab Film Festival, which was held in Algeria's Gabes last October, and the jury president of the Feature Narrative Competition at the fourth edition of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
Two films from the Arab World will be competing at Rotterdam this year in the Tiger Awards Competition for the Short Films. The category is one of the festival's most coveted due to the prominence of short films in the festival's annual programs.
Palestine's "Dag'aa" by artist and filmmaker Shadi Habib Allah and Morocco's "Faux Départ" by artist and filmmaker Yto Barrada have both been officially selected for the short films competition.
"Dag'aa" follows a group of Sinai Bedouins as they embark on a journey of discovery across the Egyptian peninsula. On the other hand, "Faux Départ", which was also an official selection at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, is a clever commentary on the fossil industry in Morocco.
The two Arab films will compete against 21 other short films from around the world for the festival's three Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films.
Moreover, Tunisian director Leyla Bouzid 's acclaimed film "As I Open My Eyes" will be screened at the festival. It will also take part in "IFFR Live" in which selected films are simultaneously screened across cinemas worldwide and to live online audiences.