Iraq. Duhok. 2015. Matthew VanDyke, an adventurer and former volunteer in the Libyan civil war, trains Assyrian Christian soldiers in Northern Iraq during the time of ISIS. VanDyke had been held prisoner by the Qaddafi regime for six months, and upon his release re- joined the final months of the battle for Libya. VanDyke is a confounding character. He has crafted a public persona based on the spectacle of his adventures. At one point in a documentary about him, he even hands off his camera so he can be filmed trying to kill a man for the first time. In my encounters with him, there was the feeling of someone relentlessly performing, crafting the script to the movie about his own life in real time. Though initially eager to be photographed by the New York Times, he balked repeatedly after noticing a pimple on his face.