Love Amid Conflict
This documentary narrates the story of a long-distance romance between a BBC correspondent based in London and a photographer working in Syria, told with warmth and humanity.
While political issues are somewhat set aside, the film focuses on matters of the heart, portraying a romantic relationship developing amid devastation. Janay Boulos, a Lebanese journalist working for the BBC’s Arabic service in London, fell in love from a distance in 2016 with Abd Alkader Habak, a Syrian activist and photojournalist. Habak risked his life under the Assad regime to provide Boulos with compelling footage from his hometown of Idlib and later Aleppo. One of Habak’s notable images shows him carrying an injured child to safety.
Interwoven Visuals and Intimacy
The film intersperses Habak’s intense images with Boulos’s smartphone footage, including scenes of her moving thoughtfully in the lifts at BBC Broadcasting House and home videos from her childhood in the Lebanese coastal town of Byblos. Their tender text messages and voice notes reveal a growing bond, with affectionate nicknames like “bird” and “little bird.” Eventually, Habak escaped Syria and reached Turkey. The couple married and settled in London, participating together in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Habak experiences mixed emotions watching Syria’s eventual liberation unfold on television, while Boulos returns to visit her parents in Lebanon, where the actions of Israel are quietly criticized, though Hezbollah is not mentioned.
Authenticity and Filmmaking Choices
Some staged elements are evident: when Boulos and Habak appear separately on screen, it is clear they set up the shots themselves; later, scenes of them embracing and speaking emotionally seem to have been filmed with a pre-positioned tripod. The documentary does not capture the moments when they inform their parents about their marriage. Nonetheless, the story remains genuine, marked by humanity and charm.
