Hend Sabry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hend Sabry
هند صبرى
Born	1979 (age 45–46) Kebili, Tunisia
Citizenship	Egypt  Tunisia
Occupation	Actress • model
Years active	1994–present
Known for	Egyptian cinema
Spouse(s)	Ahmad el Sherif

Hend Sabry (born 1979) is a famous actress and producer from both Tunisia and Egypt. She is well-known for her many roles in films and TV shows across the Arab world.

Early Life and Learning

Hend Sabry was born in 1979 in Kebili, Tunisia.

She studied law at Tunis University. In 2004, she earned a special law degree about protecting creative works like movies and books.

Her Acting Journey

Starting Out in the 1990s and 2000s

Hend Sabry began her acting career at just 14 years old. Her first movie was The Silences of the Palace (1994). This Tunisian film won many awards, including one at the famous Cannes Film Festival. Hend also won the Best Actress award at the Carthage Film Festival that year.

After this first movie, Hend took a break to focus on her studies. She returned to acting in 2000 in another film called The Season of Men. This movie looked at the challenges many Tunisian women faced.

In 2001, Hend got her law degree. Soon after, she starred in her first Egyptian movie, Diary Of A Teenager. This film was a big hit and helped her become known in Egypt.

Hend kept traveling between Egypt and Tunisia for her studies and acting. Even though she planned to work in foreign service, she chose to act full-time. She understood how important intellectual property law was for her film career.

In 2002, Hend starred in the Egyptian comedy A Citizen, A Detective And A Thief. This movie was very popular in Egypt. Her first huge blockbuster film was The Yacoubian Building in 2006. It was the most expensive Egyptian film at the time and broke records for its opening weekend.

Hend also loves short films. In 2006, she appeared in a short film called Rise and Shine, which won awards at festivals like the Tribeca Film Festival. In 2009, she acted in Ibrahim Labyad with famous Egyptian star Ahmed El-Sakka.

Success in the 2010s

Hend Sabry often chooses roles that have a social message. In 2010, she starred in the comedy series I Want to Get Married. This show made fun of the pressure Egyptian women felt to marry young. It was a huge success across the Middle East and North Africa, making Hend a big regional star.

In 2011, Hend starred in Asmaa. This film aimed to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Egypt. It was praised by critics and won many awards. Hend herself won the Best Arabian Actress award for her role.

In 2013, Arabian Business named her one of the "100 most powerful Arab Women." She also became a partner in Tayarah, a big company for video and digital content. In 2015, she started her own production company, Salam Production, in Cairo.

Her company's first film was the Tunisian drama The Flower of Aleppo (2016). Hend played a mother who tries to rescue her teenage son after he joins a group in Syria. That same year, she starred in the TV series Life is Beautiful, about a woman diagnosed with a serious illness before her wedding. In 2017, she received the Faten Hamama Award for Excellence at the Cairo International Film Festival.

In 2019, Hend appeared in two very different films. The Blue Elephant 2 was an Egyptian horror film that became the highest-earning film in Egyptian history. She also starred in Noura's Dream, a smaller Tunisian film where she played a working-class mother. For this role, she won the Best Actress Award at the Carthage Film Festival. Hend enjoys working in Tunisia because it's a smaller film world where acting performance is most important.

In 2019, Hend Sabry became the first Arab woman to receive the Starlight Cinema Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Recent Work in the 2020s

In 2020, Netflix announced they were working with Hend Sabry to create Finding Ola. This show was a new version of her popular 2010 series I Want to Get Married. For the first time, Hend was also an executive producer for the show. Released in 2022, the series showed Ola trying to rebuild her life after her husband wants a separation. It was a top show on Netflix worldwide and stayed number one in the Arab-speaking world for three weeks.

In 2022, Hend worked again with director Marwan Hamad on his record-breaking film Kira and El Gin. This anti-colonial drama was set during Egypt's fight for independence in the 1920s. It was a huge success, breaking previous box office records.

In 2023, Hend starred in the documentary Four Daughters. This film was about a mother and her two daughters who joined a group. Hend played the mother in some parts of the film. Four Daughters won three awards at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and was considered for the Oscars.

In 2024, Hend took on the main role of Amira in Moftaraq Toroq (Crossroads). This was an Arabic version of the American series The Good Wife. It became a top-rated show across the Middle East and North Africa. Later in 2024, she returned for season two of Finding Ola, again as an executive producer.

In 2023, Hend Sabry signed with a talent agency called CAA. She wants to find more acting roles and also create more projects focused on women through her Salam Production company. Hend has often spoken about the challenges women face in the Arab film industry, like being paid less and having fewer roles written for them.

Helping Others

In 2010, Hend was chosen as a goodwill ambassador for the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This means she helped raise awareness about fighting hunger. In November 2023, she stepped down from this role.

Her Family Life

Hend Sabry was once engaged to Syrian actor Bassel Khaiat. In 2008, she married Egyptian businessman Ahmad el Sherif. They have two daughters together.

Hend has dual nationality, meaning she is a citizen of both her home country, Tunisia, and her country of residence, Egypt.

Filmography

Films

Television Series

Awards and Honors

• 1994: Best Actress Award, Carthage Film Festival, for The Silences of the Palace
• 2002: Best Actress Award, Namur International Francophone Film Festival, for Poupées d'argile
• December 2024: Included on the BBC's 100 Women list

See also

In Spanish: Hend Sabry para niños