BIRDS OF WAR earned the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact at the just-concluded Sundance Film Festival in Utah, America. Yet, judging from the reviews that it got from multiple publications, that did not come as a surprise to many. The film ‘is a stirring portrait with its head on its shoulders and its heart firmly in the right place’. (Ioncinema)
The film is directed by Janay Boulos & Abd Alkader Habak whose stories are captured in it.
BIRDS OF WAR follows London-based Lebanese journalist, Boulos, and Syrian cameraman Habak over 13 years, using personal archives to tell a love story across war, revolutions and exile. As the bond between them becomes stronger, their relationship morphs into a romance, and the film takes the audience on a journey to explore the possibility of love between people whose worlds are so far apart.
According to Derrick Murray, ‘It is beautiful, riveting, and hopeful even as tragedy and danger surround them, making “Birds of War” a must watch.’ (Nerdbot)
At the same time, the personal narrative offsets the accumulation of images depicting destruction and civilian casualties, introducing moments of intimacy that recalibrate the viewing experience without softening the reality of the conflict.
‘The editing is astonishing, not just in its technical skill, but in its emotional rhythm. The film moves between flirtation and devastation without ever feeling exploitative. It understands that human beings do not stop being human during war. They still laugh. They still argue. They still fall in love. They still dream about futures that might never arrive’. Rahul Menon for Writer’s Digest
As Abe Friedtanzer puts it, ‘it’s an engaging, affirming portrait of two people deeply committed to the truth and to others, an inspiration for what so many would surely want to do in similar situations but might lack the courage and resolve to fully execute’. (Awards Buzz)
Boulos, one of the film’s directors and protagonists explains that ‘what this film shows is there are two sides to every story, and that’s going to continue to be that way, because we do live in a polarized world, but it’s through talking to each other, We can come together as people and really fight back what the politics is trying to divide by coming together through love. (Fox13)
