Year: 2026
Directors: Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak
Producers: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak, Sonja Henrici
Production Companies: Sonja Henrici Creates
Screen Scotland support: The film accessed £95,000 through Screen Scotland’s Film Development and Production Fund
Synopsis
The love story of a London-based Lebanese journalist and a Syrian activist and cameraman as told through 13 years of personal archives across revolutions, war, and exile.
“Can you find a story and film it?”
“Yes, but who are you? All I know is that you’re from the BBC.”
Although they wouldn’t realize it yet, this text exchange begins the love story of filmmakers Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak. With international journalists banned during the Syrian civil war, outlets like the BBC must rely on activists on the ground to provide footage. Trading text messages and voice notes between London and Aleppo, Boulos tasks Habak to capture editorially approved stories, but, gradually, theirs shifts from a working relationship to something more.
Immersive and emotional, Birds of War traces their parallel lives — Boulos becoming disenchanted with journalism, Habak facing the inevitable fall of Aleppo — as they grow closer.
As both Syria and Boulos’ homeland of Lebanon undergo dramatic developments, the couple reflects on the sacrifices made because of politics and war, but also on what they’ve gained.
More information
Premiere: Birds of War will have its World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2026 in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
Image credits: Stills courtesy of Sonja Henrici