Allies in Exile
Documentary short by Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi. Co-produced and impact produced by Counterpoints Arts.
Watch on BBC Storyville
Film synopsis
For 14 years, Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi have journeyed together through war and storytelling. Their bond was forged on the frontlines of revolution where their cameras recorded terror and hope, laughter and heartbreak – moments that defined a generation.
Years later, their story takes an unexpected turn. Confined inside a UK asylum hotel, Hasan and Fadi document a new chapter shaped not by bombs, but by waiting, bureaucracy, and exile. Amid rising anti-refugee hostility, they turn the camera inward, exploring friendship and displacement and how filming itself becomes an act of survival when the future is so uncertain.
Awards
Made as part of the Displacement Film Fund launched by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett. The film has been nominated in the longlist for best British short film at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs). Winner of One World Media 2026 Refugee Reporting Award. Winner of Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, Best International Short Documentary and Supreme Jury Prize Short. Watch it on BBC Storyville from 3 November 2026.
Watch online on BBC Storyville
