Orwa Nyrabia

Orwa Nyrabia (Arabic: عروة النيربية; born 16 December 1977) is an independent documentary film festival artistic director, producer, filmmaker, trainer, human rights defender and, together with his partner, filmmaker Diana El Jeiroudi, co-founder of DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival in Syria. Nyrabia is a resident of Berlin, Germany, since the end of 2013 In 2018, Nyrabia became the artistic director of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and in November 2024 he announced he would be stepping down in July 2025. Nyrabia grew up in the city of Homs, Syria, in a family of political dissidents. His father, Mouaffaq Nyrabia, is a prominent leftist opposition figure, and a political prisoner in the 1980, and his mother, Amal Mohammad, a political activist and the sister of renowned Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammad. In 1999 Nyrabia graduated with a degree in acting from the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts in Damascus, Syria. From 1997 to 2002, Nyrabia wrote regularly for Lebanese daily As-Safir. While still a student, Nyrabia worked as assistant director with Ossama Mohammad on his film Sacrifices, which was premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. In 2004, he played the main role 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. Nyrabia also worked on several feature films as a first assistant director. In 2002, Nyrabia and his partner, filmmaker and producer Diana El Jeiroudi, launched their first independent film production company, Proaction Films, in Damascus, to be the first independent company dedicated to documentary films production in the country. In 2008, Nyrabia and El Jeiroudi launched DOX BOX (Arabic: أيام سينما الواقع) to be the country's first independent film festival, attracting a large audience and hosting prominent international filmmakers. The festival started with screenings in Damascus cinemas but from 2009 on screenings were expanded to other Syrian cities including Homs and Tartus. Along with the annual festival, many workshops and activities were offered to young Syrian filmmakers. 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.