The Tunisian Egypt-based actress Hend Sabry is preparing to join the jury panel at the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam scheduled to run between 27 January and 8 February.

This will be the first time that an Arab actress joins the jury to decide upon on the prestigious Hivos Tiger award.

Other jury members of this year's festival are Dutch film critic Peter van Bueren, Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong, Portuguese director Miguel Gomes, and Hans Hurch, director of the Venice Film Festival.

This is not the first time for Sabry to sit on an international festivals' jury panel.

Most recently, in 2015, she was a jury member of the 4th IWC Filmmaker Award as part of the 12th Dubai International Film Festival. She was also appointed the Honourary President of the 1st International Arab Film Festival in Gabes, Algeria.

Sabry is among the most popular actresses in the region, and is currently based in Egypt where she is a regular fixture in local films and TV series.

Her career began in 1994 at the age of 14 when she debuted in the Tunisian production Silence of the Palaces (Samt Al-Qosoor) by director Moufida Tlatli. Her first appearance in Egyptian cinema was in the 2002 production A Teenager's Diary (Muzakirat Murahiqua), a role that paved her way to stardom.

Her later roles include starring in films such as A Citizen, a Detective, and a Thief (Mowaten we Mokhber we Haramy) in 2002, Downtown Girls (Banat West El Balad) in 2005, and Ibrahim El-Abyad in 2009. She also appeared in The Yacoubian Building (Oumaret Yacoubian, 2006), alongside an extensive cast of Egypt's biggest stars.

Her embodiment of an HIV positive woman in Asmaa (2011) brought her several awards.

Apart from her many achievements in the cinema, Sabry is active in social and humanitarian work. Since 2009, she has been working closely with the UN World Food Programme on raising awareness about hunger in the region. In 2010, Sabry officially became a WFP regional ambassador against hunger.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture