Birds of War
(United Kingdom/Syrian Arab Republic/Lebanon, 85 min.)
Dir. Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
Prod. Sonja Henrici, Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
Program: World Cinema Documentary Competition (World premiere)
We often view war through the lens of hardship and hate. Stories of bombings, displacement, starvation, and regimes driven by power and ideology usually come to mind when thinking about the global conflicts people are currently living through. The one word often missing is “love.”
The power of love in times of war is at the heart of Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak touching documentary Birds of War. As the Syrian war raged on in 2016, romance was the farthest thing from London-based Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos’ mind. The BBC journalist was more concerned with figuring out how to cover the conflict since reporters had been banned from entering Aleppo. The only option for news organizations was to rely on activists and citizen journalists on the ground, like Abd Alkader Habak, to supply them with footage.
Risking his life so that the world could really see the destruction that was occurring, Habak became one of Boulos’ key sources. Conversing via text messages and voice notes, she would send him assignments, ranging from stories about individuals growing food on rooftops, as people under siege do not have access to vegetables, to capturing on film the plight of White Helmets trying to save lives in the city’s last remaining hospital.
Over time Boulos and Habak’s working relationship grew deeper. Utilizing 13 years of personal archives, Birds of War invites viewers to witness how the pair’s bond gradually moved from mutual respect to friendship to love.
A ray of sunshine through the dust covered skies of war, the couple revelled in their lengthy daily chats, which they playful dubbed “the interview,” and the pet names they had for each other. Longing for the day they could meet in person, a goal that had its own harrowing challenges, the increasing escalations of the conflict forced them to make a decision that would change their lives forever.
Incorporating competing narrations, Boulos and Habak not only provides insight into their various upbringings, but also how different their lives were to that point. While she was afforded the opportunity to relieve stress via snorkeling trips, he was trying to avoid death at every turn. Habak’s footage, in particular, provides Birds of War with a stunning collage of the horrors of war, and the moments of heroism and friendship that allow people to cope through it.
While the couple’s love gave them the strength to push forward through many dark days during the war, it also allowed them to confront certain truths in their own lives. Habak had to come to terms with the inevitable fall of Aleppo, and Boulos faced the realization that the cable news functioned in an ecosystem where those presenting the news had no true connection with the stories they are reporting.
One of the things that makes Birds of War so endearing is the audience gets to observe the subtle shifts in the couple’s dynamics as their relationship evolves. Boulos becomes more involved with on-the-ground reporting as the winds of change in her native Lebanon inspire her to do film amidst a revolution and Habak is the one who worries for her safety. In charting their road to romance, the filmmakers ensure that the conflicts that brought them together in the first place remain top of mind.
Birds of War asks viewers to not merely be a witness to the couple’s love, but an active participant in the fight for human rights. It feels weird to call a film set among the backdrop of war charming, but the film is. Birds of War is a touching love story that finds hope and heart in the bonds that bring people together, even during conflicts designed to keep them apart.
