Tunisian actress Hend Sabry to produce, star in new 'female-focused' Netflix show

Arab silver screen icon Hend Sabry will produce and star in a new Netflix Original drama-comedy series, the streaming service announced on Monday.

Ahmed Sharkawi, Netflix's director of Arabic original series said: "We are excited to work with Hend Sabry, one of the Arab world’s most iconic actresses, who won the hearts of Arab audiences throughout her career"

"Hend's new show is a female-focused story that we are sure fans will connect with," he added.

Sabry collaborated with Netflix earlier this year to create the Because She Watched collection of films and TV shows for International Women's Day.

The yet-to-be-named series will be the Tunisian actress' first turn at executive producing, via her company SALAM Production.

Production will start late this year and filming is set to take place in Egypt.

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"I'm very happy to announce that I'm joining the Netflix family to create a new show centered around women," Sabry posted on Instagram.

She added that the series would revolve around Arab women in particular.

"I'm also very excited because this will be my first experience as an executive producer!" she added, prompting excited praise from her 2.7 million followers.

Sabry, 40, previously made history by becoming the first Arab female jury member at the 2019 Venice Film Festival.

After completing a degree in law, Sabry started acting in 1994 in her native Tunisia. She later moved to Egypt where she has starred in dozens of films and several big-name television series.

Sabry is the latest Arab woman to collaborate with the popular streaming service.

Last month, Netflix announced that the Oscar-nominated Saudi director Haifaa Al-Mansour would return to the platform to work on an adaptation of the Young Adult novel series "The Selection" by US author Keira Cass.

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