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| Missing Syrian filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia |
International film stars and the Directors Guild of America have
voiced concern and are demanding the release of Syria filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia
who has been missing since August 23.
Robert de Niro, Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Charlotte Rampling and
Danny Boyle, among others, are urging the Syrian regime of President Bashar
al-Assad to release Nyrabia. But apart from Lebanese documentary filmmaker Mahmoud
Kaabour, Arab figures in the industry are keeping mum. But please correct me if
I am wrong.
Mahmoud Kaabour's call to free Nyrabia
Kaabour, the documentary filmmaker behind Grandma, a Thousand Times and Being Osama, issued a video and has been active on social media platforms raising awareness and calling for Nyrabia’s release.
Taylor Hackford, president of the Los Angeles-based Directors Guild
of America, made the following statement Thursday, September 6:
“The Directors Guild of
America joins together with the international film community in expressing our
serious concern over the disappearance of filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia two weeks ago.
“A society or government that fails to protect an artist’s freedom
to express his or her creative vision without fear of censorship, retribution
or government reprisal is surely one in which respect for liberty, civil and
human rights is similarly tenuous. We call for Nyrabia’s immediate and safe
release along with any other filmmakers and other artists who have been
detained and prohibited from full freedom of expression.”
Robert de Niro adds his voice for Nyrabia's freedom
Some 51 directors, producers, writers and actors from other parts of the world have also signed a letter demanding Nyrabia’s release. It says:
"We, the undersigned members of the UK film community and
international friends, implore the Syrian authorities to release Orwa Nyrabia
immediately.
"Orwa is a highly respected producer and festival promoter in
Damascus who has been pivotal in starting a documentary renaissance in the Arab
world.”
Among signatories to the letter are David Puttnam, Mike Leigh, Ken
Loach and Colin Firth. Copies of the letter were forwarded to UK Foreign
Secretary William Hague and distributed in France and the U.S.
Nyrabia’s last known movements are going to Damascus International
Airport to fly to Cairo. He did not board the plane and has been missing since.
His father, Mouwaffaq Nyrabia, is a former
political prisoner.
Nyrabiya is a graduate of the prestigious High
Institute for Dramatic Arts in Damascus, where he studied acting and starred in
several films before moving to film production.
In 2002, along with a Syrian fellow filmmaker
and his wife, Diana el-Jeiroudi, he established Proaction Films, a
Damascus-based production and distribution company that focuses on human
rights, gender and social justice topics.
Recent credits include Diana el-Jeiroudi’s Dolls -- A
Woman from Damascus,
2008 (IDFA, Nyon, Montpellier). Upcoming ones include Omar Amiralay’s
theatrical documentary, Seduction.
He is also the co-founder, with Diana el-Jeiroudi, and program
director of Dox Box International
Documentary Film Festival and editor–in-chief of Tafaseel, the
newly launched documentary film quarterly in Arabic and English.
Founded in 2007, Dox Box has hosted documentary filmmakers such as
Kim Longinotto, D. A. Pennebaker and Marc Issacs in Damascus. In March of 2012,
Dox Box Global Day saw screenings
of Syrian documentaries in Edinburgh and London in partnership with Reel
Festivals and internationally in solidarity with the Syrian uprising.
In July, the Sarajevo Film Festival honored Nyrabia and Jeiroudi with
the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation scholarship for "independence, singularity
and integrity of spirit.”
In March, they were presented with the European Documentary Network
(EDN) Award for
initiating and running the documentary festival.
Diana el-Jeiroudi issued the following statement on his
disappearance: “Syrian film producer Orwa Nyrabia disappeared on his way
heading to Cairo at 5:00 p.m., on August 23, 2012. I lost contact with him soon
after his arrival at Damascus International Airport. According to Egyptian
Airlines, he did not board the plane, which indicates that he was arrested by
the Syrian authorities at the airport.”
Opposition activists say popular Syrian actor
Mohammad Omar Oso has also been arrested. Oso was detained with several family
members, according to a Syrian theater director.
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Filmmaker killed in
Aleppo
Just before publishing this post, I learned Syrian
filmmaker Tamer al-Awam, 34, was killed by regime forces in the northern city
of Aleppo on Saturday (September 8).
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said: “Syria
lost one of its dear sons. Director and journalist Tamer al-Awam was martyred
by the bullets of the murderous and treacherous regime on the front line of
Aleppo.”
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"The Syrian regime is targeting now all groups of Syrian society without exception: workers, intellectuals, filmmakers," said the theater director, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Jameel, citing fear of reprisals. "The regime is becoming worse as it feels more surrounded."
My thoughts and solidarity are with Diana el-Jeirdoui and Orwa
Nyrabia’s family and friends as well as with all those detained in Syrian
jails.
To find out more, you can join the Facebook group set up by Nyrabia’s
supporters: Freedom for Syrian Cinema, Freedom for Orwa Nyrabia.
