Tunisian-Egyptian actress and now jury member Hend Sabry has been turning heads at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. The announcement made in July said that the actress would be joining the prestigious jury of the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film.
Sabri had taken to Twitter to confirm her selection as the first-ever Arab women to be a part of the judging panel. She wrote: “I am honored to be chosen for this role and I hope to represent the Arab region in one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals in the world.”
With this year’s edition of the Venice Film Festival in full swing, many international stars have arrived at the Italian city, each one serving a memorable look of their own. Standing out, however, was the 39-year-old Arab cinema star, Sabry who walked the red carpet for the screening of The Laundromat, in an unusual yet iconic outfit by Italian fashion house Etro. Her statement-making choice of ensemble included a striped cotton poplin shirt — which she wore with the sleeves rolled up, — paired with black tuxedo pants, and put together with a black velvet belt featuring a jeweled buckle.
Wearing her hair straightened and keeping accessories to a minimum apart from a layered necklace, Sabri effortlessly put her spin on red-carpet fashion while still stunning the crowd.
The actress’ appearance on day one of the film festival also featured an Etro number. This time, Sabri was dressed in a bespoke gown featuring hand-embroidered sequins in different shades of blue, and black duchess ruffles.
This is not the first time Sabri will be seated on an international festival’s jury panel. In 2015, she was selected as a jury member for the Dubai International Film Festival, and then became the first Arab actress to join the Rotterdam Film Festival jury panel in 2016. Additionally, she acted as the honorary president of the 1st International Arab Festival that took place in Algeria, 2016.
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