TORONTO - Organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival are expressing concern over the recent arrest of a Syrian filmmaker.

Orwa Nyrabia was arrested last week at the Damascus airport while he headed to Cairo.

Nyrabia is head of Dox Box, an acclaimed international documentary film festival in Damascus.

TIFF says he was detained in the jail cells of the intelligence services but there has been no news of him since.

They describe Nyrabia as part of an emerging generation of Syrian filmmakers passionate about world cinema and freedom.

They say "filmmakers must be allowed to express themselves through their films, without fear of reprisal."