LONDON — A professional exchange between two journalists covering one of the world’s deadliest conflicts has evolved into an award-winning documentary that explores love, displacement and survival through the lens of war.
Birds of War, which opened in U.K. cinemas on Friday, follows the relationship between Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos and Syrian cameraman Abd Alkader Habak, whose connection began in 2016 when Boulos, then a BBC correspondent based in London, contacted Habak for footage from the final stages of the battle for Aleppo.
What started as a working relationship gradually deepened through written messages and voice recordings exchanged across borders, eventually leading to marriage after Habak fled Syria in 2017 and the couple reunited in London.
The documentary combines frontline footage captured by both journalists during the Syrian civil war and Lebanon’s 2019 anti-government protests with their personal correspondence, creating an intimate narrative that places human relationships alongside the realities of conflict.
Boulos said the film was intended to move beyond headlines and statistics by highlighting the personal experiences behind displacement and war.
“I find that the news headlines sometimes create more fear than compassion,” Boulos said. “When people understand someone’s background, where they come from, what forced them to leave their country, what they experienced, who their family is and how they grew up, it creates a deeper understanding of our shared humanity.”
Habak, who was born in Idlib and worked extensively in Aleppo during the war, documented some of the conflict’s most devastating moments before leaving Syria. His images gained international recognition for capturing the human cost of the fighting.
Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in 2024, Habak has returned to Syria several times to continue reporting, while Boulos, who left the BBC to pursue independent filmmaking, regularly travels back to Lebanon.
“I’m almost going every month to Syria, and Janay is also returning regularly to Lebanon,” Habak said. “We’re continuing to tell stories from there.”
The documentary has already received critical recognition, winning the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Its title reflects a nickname the couple gave one another while reporting from Syria, symbolizing both the dangers they faced and the bond that developed despite the conflict surrounding them.
Although Birds of War centers on a romance, Boulos said the film ultimately examines the persistent reach of war into people’s private lives.
“We are two people who fell in love,” she said. “But somehow, war always found its way between us.”
