Sami Bouajila, the award-winning French-Tunisian actor, will be honoured for his contributions to cinema with the prestigious Arab Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) next month.

Bouajila is an internationally acclaimed actor whose impressive filmography spans three decades and boasts an incredible forty titles.

He is renowned for his eclectic range of starring roles and is best known for his award-winning performances in ‘Les Temoins’ for which he won the Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2008, and ‘Indigenes’ where he received the award for Best Male Interpretation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

His award-winning legacy dates back to 2000 when he was named Best Young Actor for ‘Drole de Felix’ at Festival du film romantique de Cabourg. The 49 year-old has come a long way since his first acting role, working his way into the leading role for the 2011 French crime-drama ‘’Omar Killed Me’, where he plays a falsely accused gardener convicted of murdering his elderly employer.

DIFF’s chairman, Abdulhamid Juma said: “Sami Bouajila’s film career is a testament to the medium of film; he is admired by audiences around the world for his diverse and compelling choices in film roles throughout his extraordinary career. We are delighted to honour his talents with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival this December.”

Bouajila remarked: “I am thrilled and honoured to receive the Dubai International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award and very much looking forward to meeting film industry members of the region.”

DIFF’s Lifetime Achievement Awards are dedicated to honouring the world’s greatest film industry actors, writers, directors and producers. Previous honourees include Omar Sharif, Faten Hamamah, Adel Imam, Jameel Rateb, Sabah, Morgan Freeman, Sean Penn, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Daoud Abdel Sayed and Youssef Chahine, among others.

The 12th edition of DIFF will run from December 9 to 16. – TradeArabia News Service