Cannes 2021: 5 Women Named Among Influential Arabs In Film

Arab women continue to surprise the world with their talents and keep topping lists of influential, achievers and dreamers around the world.

This year, 5 female actors made it to the nominations in Arab Cinema Centre’s 101 Most Influential Personalities list in the Arab film industry in the Actors and Actresses section. These hero actresses were chosen for their distinguished roles and recent achievements and for leaving their special traces behind with every Arab film and cinema work.

Meet the 5 female actors named among the most influential in the Arab film industry this year.

Hend Sabri

Tunisian Egyptian actress Hind Sabri made it to the list with her starring performance as the title character in the Tunisian film Noura’s Dream, which premiered in Venice Film Festival 2019.

Hend has just finished shooting her first Netflix TV series, an Egyptian drama-comedy called “Looking for Ola” that she is executive producing through her company Salam. The trained lawyer with a degree in Intellectual Property is recognized for her active work in Egypt in films and TV series.

Hiam Abbass

From French cinema to Tunisian and Palestinian films, Paris-based Palestinian actress Hiam Abbas is one the Arab world’s most famous actresses who also regularly appears in American movies, such as the Hollywood blockbuster Blade Runner 2049, and series such as Succession.

Kinda Alloush

Kinda Alloush is going all international. The Syrian actress, who is among the most loved on social media and who disappeared for a while to take care of her baby, shot the British film “The Swimmers” and is taking part in two TV series in Egypt.

Maisa Abd Elhadi

Maisa is recognized as one of Palestine’s leading actresses following her performance in “Gaza Mon Amour”. She’s expected to star in two high profile features, one of them is a Jordanian film titled “The Aleeys” and will premiere in Piazza Grande section in the next month’s Locarno Festival.

Menna Shalaby

Who doesn’t love how active and positive Menna Shalaby’s personality is? She’s among the most active Egyptian actresses in cinema and she’s following up with two films shooting this year after her appearance next to the comedian superstar Ahmed Helmi in a 2019 film.

In addition to the actors and actresses list, the Golden 101 listed names of filmmakers like the Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki and distributors like the Co-founder and managing director of Metropolis Cinema and MC distribution Hania Mroué