IDFA 2022 with Orwa Nyrabia

Docs in Orbit

Last week brought the close of the 35th edition of IDFA and this year’s edition felt monumental. Not only for the sheer number of films on display (277) but also for the necessary and thought provoking panel discussions that were platformed - including an examination of the growing prosecution and incarceration of filmmakers around the world, the emergence of co-creation as a practice grounded in equity and justice, and a bold, critical examination of the power dynamics inherent in film festivals that are designed around exclusivity and competition.
All said, it was an impressive offering that gave air to many meaningful exchanges.
And midway through the festival, I had the great chance to catch up with Orwa Nyrabia, the Artistic Director of IDFA, to discuss the organizing of this year’s festival experience and unpack some of the ideas and notions that were pushed to the foreground.

ABOUT ORWA NYRABIA:
Orwa Nyrabia was appointed Artistic Director of IDFA in 2018. Born in Syria, he started his career as an actor and journalist, before moving into film production. In 2002, together with his partner and fellow filmmaker, Diana El Jeiroudi, they established an independent production company that focused on author driven documentary cinema. In 2008, he moved into festival organizing where he and his partner launched DOX BOX which grew to be the most important documentary film gathering in the Arab world. Just before the 5th edition of the festival, the organizers made a public statement announcing the suspension of further editions in protest against the violation of human rights in Syria. Instead they advocated for Syrian films to be shown in festivals around the world as an act of solidarity in light of the violence that by then had taken hold in Syria. A few months later, Orwa was arrested in Damascus and the international film community came together and successfully called on the Syrian Government for his release. Now exiled in Europe, Orwa continues advocating for the power of documentary film and the rights of filmmakers.
RELATED LINKS:

• IDFA talks during the festival mentioned on this podcast are freely available on the VOD library on the IDFA website, https://www.idfa.nl/en/selection/141496/talks-library
• Additional Q&A’s with filmmakers featured in this year’s best of fests section and including a curated watch list of IDFA2022 with Wouter Jansen from Square Eyes https://www.docsinorbit.com/idfa2022

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

• original music by Nayeem Mahbub in Stockholm.
• special thanks to Anne Takahashi, Angie Obeid and Farah Kassem.

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