Art & Culture

Hend Sabry Joins the Jury of the Amman International Film Festival 2026

BYMeriem Belhiba

July 9, 2026

The Amman International Film Festival is bringing together some of the region’s most compelling cinematic voices for its seventh edition. Tunisian actress Hend Sabry is among the names joining this year’s juries, alongside a rich slate of filmmakers, actors and creatives including Joana Hadjithomas, Khalid Abdalla, Brillante Mendoza, Saleh Bakri and Tima Shomali.

Returning to the Jordanian capital from July 26 to Aug. 3, 2026, the festival has now revealed the juries that will preside over its four competitive sections. Sabry will serve on the jury for the Black Iris Award for Best Arab Feature Narrative Film, alongside Lebanese filmmaker and artist Joana Hadjithomas, Egyptian-British actor and activist Khalid Abdalla and Jordanian composer Tareq Al Nasser.

Her appointment brings one of the Arab world’s most familiar screen presences to a festival centred on first works and emerging talent. Sabry’s own relationship with cinema began early: as a teenager, she appeared in Moufida Tlatli’s The Silences of the Palace, the landmark Tunisian film that launched a career now spanning more than three decades.

Since then, the Tunisian actress has built a body of work that crosses borders, genres and formats. From films including The Yacoubian Building and Asmaa to the series Finding Ola, Sabry has become one of the most recognisable figures on Arab screens. More recently, she appeared in Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters, the Oscar-nominated hybrid documentary in which actors enter the intimate story of a Tunisian mother and her daughters, moving between testimony, memory and reenactment.

That breadth of experience feels particularly suited to the Amman International Film Festival, whose identity has been shaped around filmmakers at the beginning of their careers. The Arab Feature Narrative competition is dedicated to debut films, while also opening its doors to second features that introduce a first-time screenwriter or lead performer.

The same focus on new voices runs throughout the festival’s competitive programme, but this year’s jury line-up brings considerable experience to the other side of the screen. The Arab Feature Documentary competition will be judged by Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei, Jordanian director Dalia Al Kury and Palestinian editor Rabab Haj Yahya, whose recent work includes the Oscar-shortlisted Coexistence, My Ass!.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Amman Int’l Film Festival – Awal Film (@ammanfilm)

Short films, meanwhile, will be judged by Iraqi writer-director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji, Jordanian actor Majd Eid and filmmaker Tima Shomali, the creator, showrunner and director of AlRawabi School for Girls. The jury will also award a prize for Best Jordanian Short Film.

The festival’s international outlook comes into focus in the Non-Arab Film competition, where Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza joins Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri and Jordanian-Canadian composer Suad Bushnaq. Mendoza won Best Director at Cannes for Kinatay, while Bakri’s recent work includes Palestine 36 and All That’s Left of You.

A FIPRESCI jury will also award a prize to a documentary from the festival’s official selection, with Jordanian critic Israa Radaydeh, French-Brazilian journalist and film critic Letícia Alassë and Portuguese film journalist Paulo Portugal forming this year’s panel. Beyond the jury room, audiences will have their own say, with Audience Awards presented across each of the festival’s four competitive sections.

For its seventh edition, the Amman International Film Festival is bringing established cinematic voices into conversation with filmmakers taking their first steps onto the international stage. With Hend Sabry joining a jury line-up that stretches across disciplines, generations and cinematic traditions, this year’s edition places discovery at the centre of the conversation — while ensuring there is no shortage of experience in the room.

Hend Sabry Joins the Jury of the Amman International Film Festival 2026

Suggestions

Articles

Topics

Hend Sabry Joins the Jury of the Amman International Film Festival 2026

More From Art & Culture

Inside Joanna Arida’s Amman International Film Festival Photo Diary

Saudi Arabia Just Added EA Sports to Its Growing Gaming Empire

Jeddah Is Set to Welcome a Brand-New Venue and Party Series

Lana Daher’s ‘Do You Love Me’ is an Invitation to Disturb the Archive

Suggestions

Articles

Topics

Newsletter

The only newsletter you won't unsubscribe from

Follow Us