Orwa Nyrabia

Orwa Nyrabia (Arabic: عروة نيربية‎; born 16 December 1977) is an independent Syrian documentary film producer, filmmaker, actor, writer and co-founder of DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival in Syria.

Education and career

Nyrabia graduated with a degree of acting from the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts in Damascus, Syria. From 1997 to 2002, Nyrabia wrote regularly for Lebanese daily As-Safir.^[1] In 2004, he starred in Yousry Nasrallah's "The Gate of Sun". The film, an adaptation of Elias Khoury's novel with the same name, was screened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.^[1] Nyrabia also worked on several feature films as a first assistant director.^[1]

Nyrabia trained as a film producer at the INA/Sorbonne in France. In 2002, he co-founded Proaction Films, the first independent film production and distribution company in Syria.^[1] He and his partner and wife, Diana El Jeiroudi, launched DOX BOX in early 2008. The international documentary film festival grew quickly into the most important documentary film gathering in the Arab World.^[2] The festival started with screenings in Damascus cinemas but from 2009 on screenings were expanded to other Syrian cities including Homs and Tartus.^[3] Along with the annual festival, many workshops and activities were offered to young Syrian filmmakers. The fifth edition of the festival, planned for March 2012, was cancelled in protest of the Syrian government's crackdown on protesters during the on-going Syrian uprising. Instead, Nyrabia advocated for Syrian documentary films to be shown in festivals around the world in what was termed the "Dox Box Global Day." The aim, according to the DOX BOX website, was to show "how poverty, oppression and isolation do not prevent humans from being spectacularly brave, stubborn and dignified."^[4] His work with DOX BOX earned him and his partner, Diana El Jeiroudi, several awards including the Katrin Cartlidge Award and the European Documentary Award in 2012.^[2]

The most significant of the films Nyrabia produced was the 2008 documentary Dolls, A Woman from Damascus, by Diana El Jeiroudi, Syrian filmmaker and Nyrabia's partner;^[5] the film was screened in over 40 countries around the world, on Television, in festivals and Art exhibitions.

In 2013, while known to be residing in Egypt.,^[6] Nyrabia produced the documentary film Return to Homs, by Syrian filmmaker Talal Derki, and the film became the very first film from the Arab World to open the prestigious IDFA, in November 2013.^[7]

Nyrabia served on the juries of many international film festivals and funds, including IDFA, Prince Claus Fund and Dok Leipzig among others.

Activism

Nyrabia's role in the drafting of the Syrian filmmakers' international Call in late April 2011, which is the Syrian uprising's first public statement by a professional group, is known to be central. The call was signed by over 70 Syrian filmmakers, inviting filmmakers around the world to join in demanding democracy for Syria. Stars like Juliette Binoche, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Mike Leigh were among more than one thousand international film professionals who joined the call.^[8]

It's been reported that Nyrabia has been one of the secret people behind Syria's most famous revolutionary organization, Local Coordination Committees in Syria, however, the details of such work are concealed by the organization, for safety reasons. Arabic media praised Nyrabia for his role in humanitarian work, mainly to displaced civilians from Homs,.^[9] It is known that Nyrabia worked closely with renowned Syrian opposition figures and activists, such as Riad Seif and Razan Zaitouneh. Nyrabia's father, Mouaffaq Nyrabia, is also a known political dissident, previously detained by the Syrian authorities, and currently the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces's representative to the EU.^[10]

Detention

Nyrabia was reportedly arrested at Damascus International Airport by Syrian authorities on 23 August 2012. His family lost contact with him shortly before he was supposed to board an EgyptAir flight to Cairo. The airline company confirmed that Nyrabia did not board their flight.^[11] He was reportedly released on 12 September.^[12] Later on, Nyrabia announced on his personal Facebook page that the Syrian Military Intelligence was responsible for his detention, and the international filmmakers' campaign for his freedom,^[13] was an example of successful pressure on the Syrian regime, as it was the reason why he was released without charges.

References

External links

• Orwa Nyrabia at the Internet Movie Database
• DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival in Syria
• Proaction Film