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Sunday, June 14
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Eaton Cinema

1201 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005

for all screenings

Birds of War

Film Language

Arabic

Co-Directors

Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak

Producer

Sonja Henrici

BIRDS OF WAR follows London-based Lebanese journalist Janay and Syrian activist Habak over 13 years, using personal archives to tell a love story shaped by war, revolution, and exile.

Young BBC reporter Janay Boulos first contacts Syrian cameraman Abd Alkader Habak (“Habak”) for footage during the final months of the four-year battle for Aleppo in 2016—one of the bloodiest and most decisive turning points in Syria’s brutal civil war.

Their professional relationship deepens as Janay learns more about the extraordinary young man documenting the violence for her reports. Through texts, video exchanges, voice messages, and shared moments from afar, the bond between them strengthens, even as Habak’s world grows increasingly perilous amid chemical attacks and relentless bombardment.

When an act of compassion puts Habak in danger and forces him to flee Syria, his relationship with Janay enters a new phase: for the first time, they meet in person, in Turkey. Distance, war, cultural differences, and familial judgment temporarily fade as the two wrap themselves in a cocoon of safety, away from the terror back home.

Still, they are never far from the question that will soon haunt them: is it possible for two people from such different worlds to build a life together?

Janay Boulos

Janay Boulos

Co-Director, Birds of War

Janay Boulos is a Lebanese journalist and filmmaker with extensive experience documenting the Middle East. From 2012 to 2021, she worked for BBC News across television, radio, and digital platforms. In 2021, she founded Habak Films with Syrian filmmaker Abd Alkader Habak. Janay has produced documentaries for BBC News and Al Jazeera Arabic, bringing stories from the Middle East to global audiences. Her professional development includes IDFA Project Space, Documentary Campus Masterschool, and Sheffield DocFest’s Future Producer School. In 2023, she was awarded the IDA Logan Elevate Grant.

Abd Alkader Habak

Abd Alkader Habak

Co-Director, Birds of War

Abd Alkader Habak (“Habak”) brings firsthand experience as a Syrian cinematographer who documented the Syrian conflict over six years, from 2011 to 2017. Working in dangerous conditions, he collaborated with BBC and CNN as a cameraman and field producer. His work during the siege of Aleppo—before fleeing Syria in 2017—resulted in an extraordinary archive documenting the Syrian revolution and war. Now based in London, Habak continues his documentary work. His recent short, SYRIA’S LAST CHAPTER, was commissioned by Al Jazeera Witness (December 2024). He is also in production on a feature documentary, UNTIL THE BUZZING STOPS.

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