French Minister of Culture and Communication Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (C) cuts a ribbon during the reopening ceremony of the Ariana Cinema in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 23, 2004. The cinema was closed down and ruined during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s and then was banned during the rein of the Taliban regime, which prohibited all forms of cultural entertainment including the playing of music and the screening of movies.

French Minister of Culture and Communication Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (C) cuts a ribbon during the reopening ceremony of the Ariana Cinema in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 23, 2004. The cinema was closed down and ruined during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s and then was banned during the rein of the Taliban regime, which prohibited all forms of cultural entertainment including the playing of music and the screening of movies.