Paco Arraya: Afghan Insomnia

“If it weren’t for this day, I hardly could say at the end of my life that I lived it truly…” This is how Paco Arraja opens his confession, hiding his own story behind many masks and invented versions. In Afghanistan in the late 2000s—an era before 9/11—his path crosses with smugglers, his long-time enemies, orphaned teenage boys, and mysterious generals. According to documents, he is a TV reporter; in reality, he is an agent carrying out a secret mission. But what is “official duty” when reality falls apart into faces, smells, gunshots, and prayers—and you have to decide whether to follow orders or show human mercy?