Bravery, fear and salaries in the Afghan army

Daniel Nelson

Here’s another thrillingly hot and sweaty close-up of soldiers up against it in the war in Afghanistan - but for the time it’s the view of the Afghan army.

The documentary Tell Spring Not To Come This Year 

Tell Spring Not To Come This Year

Image by Tell Spring Not To Come This Year

The battle scenes are gripping, but as one of nature’s non-soldiers who has survived a bombardment of docs, some bravely filmed in the midst of battle by helmet cameras, I found the most interesting aspects of the film were the pre-and post-battle conversations in which two of the soldiers talk about their lives (“I love and fear God. For my love when I’m in danger God saves me. When I don’t worship him properly, then you’re going to hell”), and the differences between the approaches of Western and Afghan officers – in their pre-fight motivational words, for example. (“When you’re scared, then death is near,” Commander Jalaluddin tells them, provoking the reply “Commander, we’re not afraid, but we haven’t been paid our salary in nine months.”)

There are also fascinating insights into the realities of the situation, vividly exposed in a confrontation between the unit and a group of police, who the soldiers clearly – and evidently with good reason – do not trust. When the soldiers take a headcount there’s an extra “policeman”, unaccounted for, who is taken for questioning during which the difference between pro- and anti-Taliban allegiances begin to lurch ominously.

Some of the soldiers’ attitudes to Western military support are similarly shape-shifting, not helped by finding crude racist graffiti in abandoned NATO shelters.

The film paints a vivid picture of the dangers faced by the unit, underequipped and irregularly paid, as well as the boredom and absurdities that are part of any army’s life, and offers glimpses into lives little-known in the West. Personally, I would like more on the fighters and their families and less on the fighting, but hats off to film-makers Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy who have gone where few of would dare to tread.

• Tell Spring Not to Come This Year premiered at Berlinale 2015 where it was awarded the Amnesty International Human Rights Film award and the Audience Choice Award.