Afghan Luke is a 2011 Canadian war drama film directed by Mike Clattenburg. The central character, Luke Benning (Nick Stahl), is a journalist investigating the possible mutilation (by Canadian snipers) of corpses in Afghanistan, a country that appears increasingly incomprehensible and surreal as Luke undergoes a series of bizarre adventures.
Plot
Disheartened when his story about Canadian snipers possibly mutilating corpses in Afghanistan is buried, Luke (Nick Stahl) quits his job but is even more determined to return to Afghanistan to get the real story. With his offbeat buddy, Tom (Nicolas Wright), tagging along, Luke returns to Afghanistan and intends to gather enough evidence to get his old story into print. But he soon finds that the country is an even more dangerous place than when he left. To make matters worse, his old friend and fixer, Mateen (Stephen Lobo) has been hired away by Luke's journalistic nemesis, Imran Sahar (Vik Sahay). Soon the trip for Luke and Tom in Afghanistan turns into a surreal and perilous adventure, a journey into an alternate reality, filtered through a haze of gun smoke. They encounter Taliban raids, bombings and unfinished business with an Afghanistan businessman. Luke still makes his way through the wilderness with Canadian troops and Arabian guides to find out if his story is true or not. In the end, he realises that the rumour about Canadians mutilating fingers is a lie and that his people still have some morality in this war torn land. Just as he is about to leave, He and Sgt. Rick (a Canadian soldier who is the leader of the squad with whom he had been travelling) come under fire from a Taliban sniper, but the Taliban runs out of bullets and walks off, while Luke thinks he killed him. While they move back to the base, Luke runs into Matteen, where he finds out that they really do share a friendship. The last scene is where Luke decides to go home.
Cast
Nick Stahl as Luke
Nicolas Wright as Tom
Stephen Lobo as Mateen
Vik Sahay as Imran Sahar
Pascale Hutton as Elita
Steve Cochrane as Sergeant Rick Cahoon
Torrance Coombs as Private Davey
Ali Liebert as Miss Freedom
Colin Cunningham as Lieutenant Christer
Parm Soor as Ustad Mir
Ron Lea as Mark
Lewis Black as Lewis Black
Nomination
The film was nominated for a Writers Guild of Canada 2012 Screenwriting Award and has appeared at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, Cinéfest, and the Atlantic Film Festival.