Gittoes had by now separated from his first wife in 2007. In 2008 Gittoes moved into his Surry Hills studio with Performance Artist and Musician Hellen Rose (married October 14th 2019). In 2009 and 2010 he rented a studio in Berlin, and had a productive period working on "Descendance", a series of large-scale paintings inspired by events in the Middle East, but taking up themes and ideas from "Night Vision", a long, cathartic novel which he periodically wrote up and revised. In 2010 with the aid of an international aid grant he returned to Pakistan’s tribal belt to make three more Pashto films with, to help develop the Pakistan film industry. These were three dramas: "Moonlight", "Starless Night" and "The Flood". He was assisted now by his new partner, Hellen Rose. The State Library of NSW holds a significant collection of material related to Gittoes' work in Australia and overseas including artists diaries.