''Afghan Luke'' is a 2011 Canadian

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Mike Clattenburg Mike Clattenburg (born March 21, 1967) is a Canadian television and film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known as creator, executive producer, writer and director of the comedy series ''Trailer Park Boys'' (2001–2007), for his ...

. The central character, Luke Benning (

Nick Stahl Nicolas Kent Stahl (born ) is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film ''The Man Without a Face'', in which he was directed by and starred alongside Mel Gibson. Stahl later tr ...

), is a journalist investigating the possible mutilation (by Canadian snipers) of corpses in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, a country that appears increasingly incomprehensible and surreal as Luke undergoes a series of bizarre adventures. The film was nominated for a

Writers Guild of Canada The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) is a trade union representing professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the WGC write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of the Week, do ...

2012 Screenwriting Award and has appeared at the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF, , French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai'') is the largest film festival in Asia and China's longest-running international cinema event. The first festival was established in Octobe ...

, the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

, Cinéfest, and the

Atlantic Film Festival The Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. AIFF is the largest Canadian film festival east of Montreal, regularly premiering the region's top films of ...

. '' "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Afghan Luke is possibly the best war satire since either Robert Altman’s

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...

, or

Three Kings In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...

David O. Russell David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has earned numerous accolades including two British Academy Film Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for five Academy Aw ...

. It’s also interesting that in the year that Canada starts winding down its military commitment in Afghanistan, and as people now more than ever question the reasons why we’re still there, I think Afghan Luke gave us the most concise and accurate explanation of the history and politics of that country: nobody gets it. But politics aside, this was a bold departure for Mike Clattenburg, who's still perhaps best known as one of the driving forces behind The Trailer Park Boys, and it will be very interesting to see what he’ll do on the big screen next." ''- Adam Donaldson

Cast

References

External links

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''Afghan Luke''
at

Letterboxd Letterboxd ( ) is an online social cataloging service for film founded (partially with investment company Tiny since 2023) and owned by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in 2011, and headquartered in New Zealand. Members can rate and review ...

''Afghan Luke''
at

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

''Afghan Luke'' at CritiFan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afghan Luke 2011 films English-language Canadian films 2011 war drama films Canadian war drama films Films about war correspondents Films about war crimes War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) films Films set in Afghanistan Films shot in British Columbia Films shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia Films directed by Mike Clattenburg 2011 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language war drama films