Kabul, Afghanistan
AP
—
Ariana Cinema in downtown Kabul has stood bruised and bruised for decades, through revolutions and wars, entertaining Afghans with Bollywood films and American action movies. Now that’s no longer the case.
On Dec. 16, demolition crews began demolishing the historic movie theater, which first opened its doors to moviegoers in the early 1960s. After a week there was nothing left.
“What is being destroyed is not just brick and cement buildings, but Afghan film lovers who resisted and continued their art despite hardships and serious security problems,” Afghan film director and actor Amir Shah Talash told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately, all traces of historic Afghanistan are being destroyed.”
“It was very painful and sad news for me,” Taras said after hearing about the destruction of Ariana Cinema. Tarash has been active in the Afghan film industry since 2004, but has lived in France since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
Taliban ban most arts and entertainment
Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, which took power in 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces, has imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law and introduced numerous restrictions, including a ban on most forms of entertainment, including movies and music.
Immediately after taking over, the new government ordered all movie theaters to close. On May 13th of this year, it was announced that the Afghanistan Film Bureau would be disbanded. Ariana, built on city-owned land near a busy roundabout, remained shuttered and abandoned.
But then Kabul authorities decided that a new shopping complex should be built at the cinema, complete with a stylish marquee and plush red seats.
“The cinema itself is a kind of commercial activity, and the area is completely a commercial area and could have been a good market,” Kabul city spokesperson Niamatullah Barakzai said.
It added that the city aims to develop the land it owns in order to “generate good income from its resources and bring positive change to the city.”
Ariana opened in 1963, and its sophisticated architecture reflects the modernizing spirit that the monarchy was trying to bring to this deeply traditional country.
However, Afghanistan soon descended into conflict. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979, and by the late 1980s war was raging across the country, with the Soviet-backed government of President Najibullah battling a coalition of American-backed warlords and Islamic extremists. He was overthrown in 1992, but a bloody civil war ensued.
The Ariana suffered extensive damage and remained in ruins for years. In 1996, the Taliban took over Kabul and all remaining movie theaters in the city were closed.
Ariana was given a new lease of life in 2004, when the French government helped rebuild it after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban in 2001.
Indian films are particularly popular, as are action films, and Ariana has also begun showing Afghan films as the domestic film industry revives.
For Talasch, a film director and actor, his interest in film began when he visited Ariana with his brothers as a child.
“It was from this theater that I fell in love with movies and became interested in this art form,” he said. Eventually, one of his own films was screened at Ariana, and “that was one of my unforgettable memories.”
Taras said movie theaters are a cultural gathering place for Kabul residents, who go there to “allay their sorrows and problems, calm their hearts and minds.” “But now a very important part of Kabul is being taken away. In this new era, we are moving backwards and that is very sad.”
But art doesn’t just exist inside buildings, he said. There is still hope.
“The future looks difficult, but it’s not completely bleak,” Taras said. “Buildings may collapse, but art will live on in people’s hearts.”
In neighboring Pakistan, after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir in the Himalayas, authorities imposed heavy taxes on Indian films to curb imports, then banned them altogether. Bollywood fans from Pakistan travel to Kabul instead to watch popular movies.
Among them was Sohaib Romi, a Pakistani film buff and art lover who recalled watching the Indian film Samjhauta, or Compromise, at Ariana with his uncle in 1974.
For him, the loss is personal. “My memories are buried in the rubble of Ariana Cinema,” he said.
