A REAL FAMILY SHOW
Family-friendly and ‘only mixed’ cinema opens in the capital
Kabul’s Galaxy cinema is a return to what life was like before the Taliban’s harsh social restrictions,
KABUL // The lights go off, the projector whirls, and for the first time in years, Afghan families find themselves sharing popcorn and soda together as they watch Hollywood and Bollywood stars on the big screen.
A family-friendly cinema has opened in Kabul, creating a rare venue in Afghanistan’s war-torn capital where women, usually confined to the home, can spend time in public with their husbands and children.
Kabul’s movie halls are popular with raucous male audiences, who clap and whistle at screens wreathed in clouds of hashish and cigarette smoke.
Traditionally, however, the cinema is not a place where women and children go.
But when the Galaxy was built last year, it became the first cinema in Kabul to ban single men for certain hours when families were inside, sheltering women and children from harassment, smoke and bad behaviour.
“It’s my first experience visiting a cinema in Kabul and the experience has been great,” says 25-year-old mother Zahra Sozan.
“The families feel secure since no one else is allowed in,” says Abubakar Gharzai, one of the owners of the Galaxy.
Sixteen years ago, this sim- ple pleasure would have been impossible, with cinemas destroyed by civil war and the Taliban forbidding nights out at the movies.
The queue at the Galaxy is an echo of a time before the Taliban’s dark era, when Afghan men, women and children openly attended films, theatre and concerts.
Young couples wait for tickets, enjoying the novelty and boldness of being in public together – although many are still cautious. Tickets cost 300 Afghanis (Dh22) per ticket, which is six times the cost of other cinemas in Kabul, making it unaffordable for many in the capital, where unemployment is rampant. But it adds to the sense of security for those who can afford it.
“There aren’t many places for women in Afghanistan to hang out. They have a tough life and this is a secure place,” says Ms Sozan’s husband, Hamed.
Samira Sozan, who visits the Galaxy with her brother, listed the public places considered suitable for women.
“We have a bowling club, recreational park and Kabul zoo,” she says.
Even so, women are usually too busy washing and cooking to enjoy time with husbands and children, she says.
“We will come back. It is not tradition to visit the cinema, but we do not care what people say.
“It is one of the few places for us to spend time with our fami- lies. We couldn’t ask for a better place to come.”
Mr Gharzai says he chose the policy for the cinema to give families a breather. “We want to show the world the positive side of Afghanistan, that Afghanistan is not about bombs and attacks, but there is also something that makes our people happy,” he said.
The biggest threat to the cinema, he said, is piracy and online streaming.
Afghan audiences prefer US and Indian movies to those produced by a home- grown film industry stunted by nearly four decades of war. But by the time the Galaxy screens recent high-definition offerings, such as Dangal, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Sultan, many spectators will have already watched them online.
Horror films, Mr Gharzai says, are popular. “We could not show horror movies because of the children, but the demand was very high, so now we show them.”
With Afghanistan still at war with a resurgent Taliban, the cinema is located inside a Kabul shopping centre guarded by armed police.
Militants vilify Hollywood and Bollywood as vulgar and sinful, although no cinemas have been attacked in Kabul in recent years.
“There are threats,” says Mr Gharzai. “But we rely on the Almighty.”