LONDON: Journalist Janay Boulos first connected with Syrian cameraman Abd Alkader Habak in 2016, when the London-based BBC reporter sought footage from him during the final months of the battle for Aleppo. What began as a professional relationship soon evolved into something more personal, sustained through written and recorded messages, and eventually into a love story now told in their documentary “Birds of War,” released in UK cinemas on Friday. The film is set against the Syrian conflict and the 2019 protests in Boulos’ home country, Lebanon.

LONDON: Journalist Janay Boulos first connected with Syrian cameraman Abd Alkader Habak in 2016, when the London-based BBC reporter sought footage from him during the final…

Birds of War is an award-winning docudrama in which its own directors fall in love while reporting the horrors in Syria. They explain why they needed a psychotherapist to complete…