Birds of War
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Abd Alkader Habak
Abd Alkader Habak
Janay Boulos
Abd Alkader Habak
Abd Alkader Habak
| Birds of War | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Janay Boulos Abd Alkader Habak |
| Written by | Janay Boulos Abd Alkader Habak |
| Produced by | Sonja Henrici Janay Boulos Abd Alkader Habak |
| Cinematography | Janay Boulos Abd Alkader Habak |
| Edited by | Claire Ferguson Will Hewitt Tanya Singh |
| Music by | Harpal Mudhar Darren Sng |
Production companies | Habak Films Sonja Henrici Creates |
| Distributed by | Dogwoof |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom Syrian Arab Republic Lebanon |
| Languages | Arabic English |
Birds of War is a 2026 documentary film directed and written by Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak, and produced by Sonja Henrici, Boulos, and Habak.[1] It premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact.[2][3]
The film follows the love story of Boulos, a London-based Lebanese journalist and Habak, a Syrian activist and cameraman, who met in 2016, when she was a BBC journalist seeking footage and he was a freelance cameraman in Aleppo during the Syrian civil war.[4] The film is composed of 13 years of their personal archives spanning revolutions, war, and exile.[2][1][5]
Release
Birds of War premiered at the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.[2][3] It was available online for public viewing during the festival's at-home program (January 29 to February 1, 2026).[2][1] In March 2026, it was screened at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.[6]
In December 2025, Dogwoof acquired the sales rights for Birds of War.[7]