"Co-directed by London-based Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos and Syrian activist and cameraman Abd Alkader Habak, "Birds of War" utilizes thirteen years of personal archives, from text messages and on the ground footage to news broadcasts and family photographs, to tell the story of how the two met and fell in love during the start of the Syrian revolution. Boulos produced segments on the war for the BBC, while Habak lived through it."
"Over the course of the conflict, their work texts blossom into something deeper, pushing Habak to decide whether their love is worth a life lived in exile. The prospect of that life becomes less of a choice and more a life raft after a photograph of Habak saving a child from a massacre that took the lives of 120 people, including sixty-eight children, goes viral online and the activist becomes a target, forcing him to seek asylum abroad."
Three films in the World Documentary Competition trace subjects over years, two centered on the Syrian revolution and one on women facing defamation lawsuits after #MeToo. Birds of War combines thirteen years of personal archives—text messages, on-the-ground footage, news broadcasts, and family photographs—to chronicle the relationship between Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak as their professional collaboration becomes a romantic bond. Habak stayed in Syria to document the uprising while Boulos worked abroad. A viral photograph of Habak rescuing a child from a massacre makes him a target and forces him to seek asylum, underscoring the films' focus on the high cost of resilience.
Read at Roger Ebert
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