Last year, Christine Hakim became the first Indonesian to sit on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival, the movie trade's most prestigious international showcase. The 46-year-old has starred in more than 30 films, but recognition of this sort is rare. Southeast Asia's most talented and prolific actors are usually regional phenomena. But there she was, studying the entries and debating their merits with David Lynch, Sharon Stone, Michelle Yeoh and other Hollywood glitterati. Yet it is her dedication to Indonesia, not her recognition overseas, that is Hakim's triumph. Offscreen, she mingles with Jakarta's glamorous élite; onscreen—where she has portrayed a prostitute, a mother of street children, and an Acehnese rebel, among others—she says she uses acting as a means to "give audiences insight into the reality facing most Indonesians. It is a small contribution, but I hope it has an influence."

But Hakim doesn't need the cameras to be rolling to fulfill that sense of purpose. The Christine Hakim Foundation supplies milk for 600 undernourished West Javanese children and subsidizes the educations of dozens more. Another of her foundations helps rebuild dilapidated schools and provides grants and subsidies to impecunious teachers. Though she's constantly fielding script offers, it is through her admirably unglamorous work that Christine Hakim performs her finest role.

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