Music Without Borders
The Story of Gaby Al Botros
Survival. Through. Music.
A documentary short about a musician and the journey music took him on.
Watch the film
- Running time
- 10 minutes
- Language
- Arabic, with English subtitles
- Year
- 2026
Player not loading? Watch it on YouTube.
About the film
Gaby Al Botros started learning music at ten and studied it in Damascus while life in Syria was getting harder. His guitar quartet, Orontes, took him from a packed church in Damascus to Lebanon, and then to Victoria, British Columbia.
In Ontario he built Music Without Borders with Jana Daher, and later the Toronto Arab Orchestra. In ten minutes, he tells the story himself.
Language and captions
The film was shot in Arabic, Gaby's native language, so he could tell his story in his own words. English subtitles let a wider audience follow it. That choice honours the mission of Music Without Borders: breaking down barriers and building connections through music.
How it was shot
Captured on Canon R5 II and C300 II in 12-bit CLOG3, with additional cinematography by Saff. Finished in 1920×1080 at 23.98 frames per second.
“Home is the place where there is love.”
The team
The documentary was Anas and Darren's capstone project for the Broadcasting – Television and Independent Production program at Conestoga College.
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Gaby Al Botros
The film's subject, musician and conductor
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Project blog
Visit the blog-
The film is out
Music Without Borders: The Story of Gaby Al Botros is out, and it is free to watch. It runs ten minutes, in Arabic with English subtitles, and it plays on the front page of this site. Thank you…
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Welcome!
Music Without Borders is a capstone documentary project that explores the power of music to connect people across cultures, communities, and lived experiences. Through this film, we aim to highlight how music can serve as a universal language,…
Read the post
Credits
- Directed by
- Anas Alkharbootly
- Produced by
- Anas Alkharbootly
Darren Cherrey-Elliott - Executive producer
- Brian Fearon
- Director of photography
- Anas Alkharbootly
- Additional camera
- Darren Cherrey-Elliott
- Senior editor
- Anas Alkharbootly
- Editor
- Darren Cherrey-Elliott
- Sound recording
- Anas Alkharbootly
- Color correction
- Anas Alkharbootly
- Titles and graphics
- Anas Alkharbootly
Darren Cherrey-Elliott - Production coordination
- Darren Cherrey-Elliott
Music Without Borders and the Toronto Arab Orchestra
- Founder, music director, conductor
- Gaby Al Botros
- Executive director
- Jana Daher
- Vocalist
- Ranya Jamal
Najwa Tannus
Habib Hoseini - Singer
- Monzer Khawande
- Singer, guest artist
- Basma Jabr
- Composer, oud, vocal
- Husam Numan
- Guitarist
- Meer Mahmoud
Orwa Al Sharaa - Violinist
- Mamoun Aburas
- Clarinetist
- Peter Stoll
- Guitarist, composer
- Susan McDonald
With special thanks to
- Toronto Arab Orchestra
- Music Without Borders
- Conestoga College
- Peaceful Films
- Gaby Al Botros
- Jana Daher
- All participants and supporters of Music Without Borders
On stage
Music Without Borders in concert in Kitchener, and a few from behind the scenes. Concert photos by Peaceful Films.
A Peaceful Films and DCE Photography production, made with Music Without Borders and the Toronto Arab Orchestra.