Afghanistan Night Stories

A special commando unit was set up within the Afghan army to fight against the Taliban and other violent militia. Filmmaker Alka Sadat, who as a woman had to obtain permission from the mullah before shooting among the troops, records everyday life in the Afghan commando camp and follows the men on their dangerous, often nocturnal, missions. These military operations, for which the soldiers are constantly on standby, contrast starkly with the everyday routine of the camp. Whistling, a soldier fixes his hair at the bathroom mirror; outside, men are playing volleyball and messing around with the pigeons, which coo loudly in the otherwise mouse-still surroundings. In the cramped dormitory, soldiers play board games and flip channels from a singer to Barack Obama, who is announcing the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Sadat also places the men individually in front of her camera, where they reticently talk about their loves, their families, the opportunities of the modern age and their big dream of a secure future. Everything is punctuated by the recurring orders and helicopters arriving to drop the soldiers into some unfamiliar area, where they have only two options: kill or be killed.