Safar Barlek: Sanawat al Hob wal Raheel (Years of Love and Exile)(2023)

Years of Love and Longing (Sanawat al Hob wal Raheel), also broadcast under the title Safar Barlek, is a Syrian-Saudi co-produced historical drama series that aired on Shahid and MBC during Ramadan 2023. Set in 1914, it chronicles the lives of four young men — including Lebanese actors Wassim Fares and Bio Sheehan — conscripted into Ottoman military service following Sultan Mehmed Reshad's general mobilisation decree, weaving their personal stories against the backdrop of World War I and the decline of the Ottoman Empire across the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula. The series was originally conceived as a joint project between director Laith Hajjo and the late celebrated Syrian director Hatem Ali (1962–2020), who died of a sudden heart attack before filming began; Hajjo completed the work alone and dedicated it to Ali's memory. The ensemble cast also includes Syrian star Abed Fahd as the historical figure Ahmad Jamal Pasha, alongside Dima Al-Jundi, Anas Tayara, Abdulrahman Al-Yamani, and others.