Sundance Film Festival 2026 – Birds of War isn’t a traditional love story. Set against the backdrop of last decade’s Syrian civil war, the documentary follows the story of activist Abd Alkader Habak and London-based Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos. What began as a text exchange about covering the war for the BBC blossomed into a relationship. The documentary is also a harrowing and visceral firsthand account of war.
After Syria banned international journalists during the civil war, reporters had to rely on first-person accounts from people like Habak who were on the ground as the country’s former dictator Bashar al-Assad, with the assistance of Russia, bombed the country to quell rebellion. The documentary traces the beginnings of the civil war and the uprising, before showing how it spread from major city to major city. We see the seeds of hope that started with a protest in one city before bombs fell.
Most of the documentary, told through archival footage, takes place in Aleppo when it’s Habak’s point of view, and London when it’s from Boulos’ perspective. This shows how the filmmakers led parallel lives at the time, growing closer through text and voice messages as the war raged on.
We’re also treated to the first messages that Habak and Boulos sent each other, when she asked him, “Can you find a story and film it?,” and he responded, “Yes, but who are you? All I know is that you’re from the BBC.” Their messages grow more frequent, in part because they’re assisting each other in getting the truth out about the war, including al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people, but also because they simply start to grow fond of each other.
However, while the documentary is a love story, it’s also a realistic and unrelenting account of war. Through Habak’s footage, we see buildings pulverized and citizens doing their best to take care of each other. In one of the most distressing sequences, Habak is in a basement with other residents, tending to the wounded, when they start to suspect that chemical weapons have been deployed. We see Syrians, including a child, in gas masks. It’s a deeply unsettling sequence but necessary to convey the savagery.
The film also gives ample time to Boulos’ background, including her drive and desire to pursue journalism, beginning with man-on-the-street type of stories, before landing at the BBC and covering the Syrian civil war. She also frequently expresses her love for Lebanon and addresses its political and social tumult from the last few decades. Through her storytelling and dialogue, she’s good at making recent history feel palpable to the average viewer.
Overall, Birds of War is a gripping documentary that’s part love story and part war documentary. The archival footage underscores just how brutal the Syrian civil war was, including the use of chemical weapons. On the other hand, it highlights how a relationship bloomed out of the rubble. Thankfully, the filmmakers saved their footage from last decade so we can better understand Syria’s recent history, juxtaposed with a moving personal story.
