Culture 4 min read By Mason Emerson
Hiam Abbass to Receive Honorary European Film Academy Award
The Palestinian actress and «Succession» star will be honored for European Achievement in World Cinema at the 39th European Film Awards in Athens on January 16, 2027, where she will serve as the ceremony's honorary guest.
Hiam Abbass will receive the European Film Academy's honorary award for European Achievement in World Cinema, the organization has confirmed. The Palestinian actress, known to international audiences for her roles in «Succession,» «The Visitor» and «Paradise Now,» will be presented with the honor at the 39th European Film Awards, scheduled for January 16, 2027, in Athens.
Abbass will also be the honorary guest at the ceremony, placing her at the center of one of the European film calendar's most prominent annual events. The award recognizes a body of work that has moved between European and international productions and has made her one of the most recognizable Palestinian performers in contemporary cinema.
Born in Nazareth to a Palestinian family, Abbass built a career that spans film, television and stage work across multiple countries and languages. Her filmography includes «Paradise Now,» the 2005 drama about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide mission, and «The Visitor,» the 2007 American independent film in which she played a Syrian woman living in New York. More recently, she appeared in the HBO series «Succession» as Marcia Roy, the wife of media patriarch Logan Roy, a role that brought her a new level of visibility with television audiences.
Her credits also include «Palestine 36,» a historical drama set during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The range of those projects reflects a career that has consistently combined international art-house cinema with high-profile American television and independent film.
The European Film Academy's honorary prize for European Achievement in World Cinema is given to filmmakers and performers whose work has carried European cinema beyond the continent. Past recipients have included actors and directors whose careers crossed national borders, and Abbass fits that profile: a performer born in the Middle East who has worked extensively in European productions while maintaining a presence in American film and television.
The 39th European Film Awards will take place in Athens, marking another stop for the ceremony in a European capital. The event brings together filmmakers, producers and performers from across the continent and is watched closely as a bellwether for the year's European cinema. Abbass's role as honorary guest means she will be a focal point of the evening beyond the award presentation itself.
The honor arrives at a moment when Palestinian artists and stories have drawn heightened attention in the international cultural conversation, and Abbass has long been one of the most prominent Palestinian actors working in global film and television. Her selection places her alongside a lineage of honorees recognized for careers that extend well past any single national industry.
For viewers, the award also serves as a reminder of the breadth of Abbass's work, from the political drama of «Paradise Now» to the ensemble dynamics of «Succession.» The Athens ceremony in January 2027 will give the European Film Academy a stage to celebrate that range in front of an international audience.
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