ArteEast joins the international community calling for the immediate release of our friend and colleague Orwa Nyrabia, the Syrian actor, filmmaker and producer who was arrested by Syrian authorities at the Damascus International Airport on August 23 while traveling to Cairo. Reasons for his arrest and his current whereabouts are still unknown.

The international film community has joined together to demand Orwa Nyrabia’s immediate release, and yesterday Martin Scorsese publically voiced his concern about Nyrabia’s situation and issued the following statement:

"I was alarmed by the news that the Syrian actor and producer Orwa Nyrabia has been arrested by the Syrian regime, held in an undisclosed location and denied any communication with the outside world, including his own immediate family. The international film community must remain vigilant, and shine a light on every injustice perpetrated against our fellow artists. We need to maintain pressure to ensure the immediate release of Orwa Nyrabia." – Martin Scorsese

Lawrence Wright of the New Yorker wrote the following piece on Orwa's disappearance in the magazine's "Newsdesk" Column online on August 28th here

Other international news coverage about Orwa Nyrabia’s disappearance and arrest includes this Al Jazeera piece and a report on Reuters