Dhafer L'Abidine appointed as jury member in CIFF’s International Competition

CAIRO – 5 November 2018: Tunisian star Dhafer L'Abidine will join the jury of the International Competition of Cairo International Film Festival which will take place from November 20-29.

The International Competition jury houses a notable cast of filmmakers beside L'Abidine, including Egyptian director Hala Khalil, Lebanese actress Diamand Bou Abboud, Kazakh actress Samal Yeslyamova, Belgian actress Natasha Renee, Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, Argentinian producer and screenwriter Juan Vera and Italian director Francesco Munzi.

CIFF selected the internationally acclaimed Danish director Bille August to be the jury president of the International Competition.

L'Abidine was born in Tunis in 1972. He was a professional football player until the age of 23, but he picked a severe injury that prevented him from playing football for two years. Along those two years, he worked as a model.

After his recovery, L'Abidine was 25 years old and felt that he could no longer be a professional football player.

L'Abidine loved watching movies, art and acting, and decided to take acting classes. In 2000, he traveled to the United Kingdom and settled there. He joined the Birmingham School of Acting and graduated in 2002.


At that time, he was given the opportunity to participate in a British series called "Dream Team", where he played the role of a French football player over two seasons (2002-2004) and this series was his artistic kick off.

L'Abidine is fluent in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Italian, which allowed him to work in a number of international series like "Wire in the Blood" in 2004, "The Bill" and "The Doctors" in 2005.

In 2006, he participated in three international movies: "A Different Dish", "Children of Men" and "Mercante di Pietre". L'Abidine also took part in two series: "Bombshell" and "The Spooks".

In 2008, he participated in the famous Tunisian series "Maktoob", where he played the role of Mohamed Ali and won widespread fame in Tunisia. In the same year, he hosted the Carthage International Film Festival.

In 2012, L'Abidine had his acting debut in Egypt in the Egyptian series "Vertigo" with the Tunisian star Hend Sabry. Since his first foray into Egyptian drama, he has won the love of Egyptians.