Hend Sabri and Mohamed Hefzy awarded France’s Order of Arts and Letters

The two film professionals were honoured by the French Ambassador to Egypt on Wednesday

Actress Hend Sabri and producer Mohamed Hefzy have both been awarded France’s Order of Arts and Letters. Getty; AFP

Tunisian actress Hend Sabri and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy have been awarded the Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French government on Wednesday. Honoured by Stephane Romatet, the French Ambassador to Egypt, Hefzy was named Chevalier while Sabri was named Officer.

The Order of France, established in 1957, is an honorary order that is granted to those who contribute to the enrichment of French cultural inheritance.

Sabri shared the moment on Twitter and wrote, "Proud to receive the French Order of Arts and Letters from the level of Chevalier to Officer, which I had received in 2014. Thank you to the French government and to His Excellency Ambassador Stephane Romatet."

The Tunisian actress and producer, who has become a household name since she started her acting career in the early 1990s, served as a jury member at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, the first Arab woman to judge at the festival. That same year, Sabri won the Best Actress award at for her role in Noura's Dream at the Carthage Film Festival. The film played at a number of international film festivals, including Toronto.

Hefzy also shared a couple of images from the event with the words: "Proud day for a new Chevalier," adding his congratulations to Sabri.

The award-winning film producer has been president of the Cairo International Film Festival since 2018, one of the most prominent regional film festivals today. Hefzy is behind a host of award-winning films such as Mohamed Diab's Clash, AB Shawky's Yomeddine and Ayten Amin's Souad.

Most recently, Hefzy's production company Film Clinic signed a partnership for the production of the Arabic adaptation of Perfect Strangers, starring Nadine Labaki and Mona Zaki.