Board of Directors

Orwa Nyrabia is the Artistic Director of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). With his active engagement at the intersection of culture and politics, of documentary film and activism, Nyrabia brings his unique and vast experience to IDFA. In addition to being an awarded documentary film producer, he has over ten years of experience as curator, programmer, an industry expert, mentor, activist, and a lobbyist. Nyrabia has produced films, trained filmmakers, and held numerous film screenings and discussions. Born in Syria in 1977, he spent several years working as actor and journalist for prominent regional newspapers. In 2004, he abandoned his acting career to start producing independent documentary films. A few years later, he co-founded DOX BOX, a documentary film festival in Syria—the very first in the country—which quickly became the region’s largest documentary film festival. After political imprisonment, Nyrabia was forced to flee Syria, after he co-founded No Nation Films GmbH in Berlin in 2014, to continue producing documentaries and international co-productions. 

Orwa Nyrabia is co-founding member of DOX BOX, a founder and member of International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) and a member of the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the International Documentary Association (IDA), the European Documentary Network (EDN), the Asia-Pacific Screen Association (APSA), and since 2014, a Sundance Documentary Film Program International Partner. He was Network Partner of the Prince Claus Fund (2012-2016) and Consultant to the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture - AFAC (2016-2017). 

Highlights from his filmography as producer are Republic of Silence by Diana El Jeiroudi, (2021), Notturno by Gianfranco Rosi (2020), Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (2014) by Ossama Mohammad, The Return to Homs (2013) by Talal Derki, and Dolls – A Woman From Damascus (2008) by Diana El Jeiroudi.

Cees van ‘t Hullenaar is the Managing Director of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). Born in 1964, Van ‘t Hullenaar studied Communication and Film Studies at the University of Nijmegen. Before he came to work for IDFA, he worked as a spokesman for the City of Amsterdam. Van ‘t Hullenaar founded a communication agency and was a freelance cultural journalist and filmmaker. In 1997 he joined IDFA as communications manager. He became Festival Manager in 2004 next to founding IDFA Director Ally Derks. After her departure in January 2017 he was appointed Executive Director. Cees was Board member of the IDFA Bertha Fund, Member of the Ford Foundation’s BUILD network and is board member of ICFR and member of the European Filmacademy and the Dutch Academy of Film.

Isabel Arrate Fernandez finished her MA in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam, and worked in festival production, programming, and film financing before joining IDFA to head the IDFA Bertha Fund. Since 2020, she is the deputy director of IDFA in charge of the Filmmakers Support department, where she is responsible for the IDFA Bertha Fund (IBF) and oversees the talent development programs. She is a member of the IBF selection committee, actively involved in the mentoring of documentary projects, and regularly participates as consultant in workshops and pitching forums. She is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).