[7] 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.
In 2014, he was one of the producers of the highly acclaimed film Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait, directed by seasoned Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed in collaboration with Wiam Simav Bedirxan, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, and received highest critical claim by major outlets such as Le Monde and Variety.
[19] In June 2017, Nyrabia, together with his partner Diana El Jeiroudi, were the very first Syrians to be invited as members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
During his tenure, the organization navigated the pandemic, committed to, and delivered on a gender parity pledge,[21] and went through an overhaul of its programs, incorporating a wider global representation,[22] and at the same time becoming a key address for US-based studios's promotion calendar.
[26] Since Razan Zaitouneh was abducted late 2013 in Douma, near Damascus, by an unknown group of extremists, Nyrabia became the temporary Acting Director of the organization she founded and directed, Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria (VDC).
Following his release, Nyrabia published a letter of thanks to everybody who participated in the campaign [30] At the opening ceremony of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2023 held on November 8 in the shadow of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, three activists burst onto the stage and waved a sign bearing the inscription "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", a slogan used by Palestinian activists that is seen by some as a call for the extinction of the state of Israel.
Allowing and applauding a sign which states that “From River to the Sea Palestine will be Free” is a call for the eradication of Israel, the Jewish homeland and of Jews in general.
Applauding and cheering the protesters on, was the festival’s director, Mr. Orwa Nyrabia, which allows us to believe that this is IDFA‘s official and reprehensible stance towards Israel and towards Jews..."[31] The following day, The festival made a statement distancing itself from the slogan,[32] in which Nyrabia stated that he did not read the banner during the event, and rather applauded freedom of expression, in addition to second statement demanding a ceasfire and the entry of humanitarian[33] aid to Gaza.
The position against the statement, which has been deemed to be "protected speech" by the Dutch supreme court earlier in the year,[34] was understood by a number of artists as an act of silencing Palestinian voices and those in solidarity with them.
[35] More than 20 participating filmmakers and artists published, and read during the festival, statements defending the use of "From the River to the Sea" as their support for freedom and democracy for all the land's inhabitants, referring to a one state solution for the historical conflict, and accusing IDFA of censorship.
Two days after the aforementioned statements, the festival issued a third, where it recognized that it had no right to suggest that the slogan should not be used, and acknowledged that Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is the "core of the problem".