The late Egyptian actress was nicknamed the ‘Lady of the Arab Screen’. Ms. Hamama served as a Member of the Jury at the Moscow, Cannes, Cairo, Morocco, Venice, Tehran, Alexandria and Jakarta film festivals. The heroine of the film "I Want a Solution", one of the most influential movies in the history of personal status law, as it drew attention strongly to the existing strife in the law. When the film “M Empire” was screened at the Moscow Festival, she received an appreciation award from the Soviet Union of Women, and 18 of her films were selected among the best 150 films produced by Egyptian cinema.

The Cinema Committee of the Supreme Council of Culture in Cairo selected 8 of the films she starred in to be among of the 100 best films in the history of Egyptian cinema in 2007.She was awarded the National Order of the Cedar Lebanon, and Intellectual Competence Award from Morocco in 2001. She was chosen as the Star of the Twentieth Century at Alexandria Festival in 2001. She was also awarded the ‘Star of the Century’ Award by the Egyptian Writers and Critics Organization during 2000. She received an honorary doctorate from the American University in Cairo in 2000.